Time
by Sekai
Summary: It's Hermione's seventh year, and she's keeping secrets. From Harry, from Ron, from everyone. And as if that wasn't enough, and accident with a time turner leaves her stranded 20 years in the past ...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling. Anything you recognize in this text belongs to her.

_*** __September 1st 1997_

Hermione Granger paused as she stepped into the Great Hall and observed the odd seating arrangements. The four house tables of her six years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had been replaced by smaller tables arranged in a circle. The student body was greatly diminished as a result of the ongoing Wizarding War in Britain, forcing the new Headmistress to make a few changes. The students were randomly seated along the circle of tables, with seemingly no structure as to house or year.

It was September 1st, but a very different September 1st. Of the students gathered in the Hall, only a very small percentage had arrived with the train this very evening. Students had instead appeared at random intervals during the summer months. Most of them came from families severely affected by the war. Their parents might have sent them here for safe-keeping while they themselves worked with or against the Ministry of Magic in its disagreements with Voldemort. Some of the students had gone to Hogwarts against their parents' will, blatantly refusing to leave the school even when their parents judged it unsafe. Hermione didn't think she could have left even if she wanted to. She had given herself a week with her parents at the beginning of the summer, no more. Of course, they knew next to nothing about what went on in her world. Truth be told, they had gotten to know progressively less and less about what went on in their daughters life.

Hermione had been involved in the battle against the Dark wizard Voldemort ever since she befriended Harry Potter on Halloween almost six years ago. And no one could claim she wasn't in for more. Her parents had barely been told of the threat Voldemort posed on the Wizarding society. After they threatened to pull her out of school after the incident with the troll in her first year, she hadn't exactly gone into detail about the dangerous events at the end of the same year. After all - would normal, loving, muggle parents enjoy hearing about their daughter being involved in a chase after a dark wizard, involving her being in the vicinity of the slobbering jaws of a three-headed dog, trapped in Devil's Snare and fighting a game of near-deadly wizarding chess? She had found it even harder to convince them to let her go back to school for her third year after she had spent great parts of her second year lying petrified in the Hospital Wing. Maybe that's why she never told them about the night near the end of her third year she spent with a murderer, a werewolf and an escaped prisoner. She had told them about the Triwizard Tournament when it was announced in her fourth year, but no way was she telling them about the resurrected Dark Wizard who killed one of the Hogwarts champions. Not a whisper reached them about the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army or the Department of Mysteries. And Dumbledore? No, Hermione hadn't breathed a single world about Dumbledore.

Letting a small sight escape her lips, Hermione walked further into the Hall. One day she'd tell her parents everything, she swore. One day she'd share all her secrets. One day.

She quickly located her two best friends, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, and went to sit with them. They were engaged in a hushed conversation, but gave her warm smiles as she sat down. Knowing, and being quite tired of, their discussion she let her gaze roam the Hall as she waited for the food to appear. She brushed her hair away from her face with a quick flick of her hand. It was hanging loose this evening, and she was reminded of why she kept it tied away in braids or knots during her hours of research in the library. Hermione's library hours being mostly all day, every day, loose hair was an uncommon occurrence. Her hair was longer than it had ever been by now, and, shaking her head gently to feel the weight of it, would have to be cut soon.

The food suddenly appeared. Even though it was the most unusual of 1st of Septembers, the food was still excellent. She picked a few random selections and slowly began to eat. Letting her eye wander Hermione noticed Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister sitting by herself, observing Hermione and the two boys. Hermione knew Ginny, and was certain that Ginny knew they were up to something. The girl had defied her mother this summer and travelled to Hogwarts when Hermione, Harry and Ron did, but the two boys had been adamant about keeping her out of the loop. As if that was going to keep her safe. Hermione knew they would have to involve her eventually. She was even certain it would keep her safer. What was the use of trying to keep her out of something she would end up being involved in anyway? Was there any point in keeping secrets? Hermione glanced over at Harry. Well, some secrets couldn't be shared quite yet anyway.

Hermione shifted her gaze from again and looked at a boy even further down the circle, a boy with a fair but freckled complexion, a bit on the short side, with averagely brown hair and green-specked brown eyes.

_He had been home tutored_, he had said when he arrived, _by his relatives_. Now however, with the war in the open, they had seen it best to send him somewhere safe. _Hogwarts is safe_, he said and everyone had given weak, far from reassuring smiles.

_Hogwarts was once safe_, they said, _but no one can be certain that Hogwarts is still safe_.

He still wanted to stay and McGonagall had agreed. How could she not? She proceeded to put the Sorting Hat on his head.

_Gryffindor_, it had said, and he gave an odd smile. The smile faded quickly, however, when McGonagall put him through a series of tests in the subjects he would be expected to attend.

_But he had been home tutored_, she had said, _she needed to know how much he knew_.

Hermione knew better of course. But she couldn't tell anyone. There was quite a lot Hermione had to keep to herself these days.

Her gaze moved again, running down the circle of students. Neville Longbottom was just coming into the Hall and seated himself next to Ginny. Parvati and Padma Patil were nowhere to be seen. They were some of the first to be pulled out of school. Lavender wasn't here either. Hermione heard her muggle parents had refused her to return, they didn't want to loose her to a war they had no part in. They were wrong. If Voldemort wasn't stopped it would most certainly include them – and the rest of Muggle England. Lillian Moon had also left, leaving only Hermione and Cecilia Spinks in the Dormitory. Cecilia with her light brown hair, wide grey eyes and cheerful way of being was friendly with many, but oddly enough stuck to the more silent Lillian. Parvati and Lavender also stuck together, leaving Hermione with the boys. Dean Thomas was sitting a couple of chairs away from Cecilia. His best friend, Seamus Finnegan, would return to Hogwarts in a month or so, he said. But they'd still lose some. Two Gryffindors had left, and they weren't planning to return anytime soon.

Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley, both Hufflepuffs, were sitting together not too far away from the other seventh year Hufflepuffs; Wayne Hopkins, Susan Bones, Megan Jones, Melinda Rivers and Stephen Cornfoot. Susan, Ernie and Justin had remained at Hogwarts after the events in July and Stephen and Meghan ,who had been made prefect after Hannah Abbott said she wouldn't come back, had returned after three weeks. Wayne and Melinda had returned just the past week. Three of the Hufflepuss seventh years, including Hannah, had left as well.

The Ravenclaws Anthony Goldstein, Terry Boot and Michael Corner were sitting together. Anthony, who was a prefect, had arrived a month ago and Terry and Michael had returned tonight on the Hogwarts Express. Since Padma wouldn't be returning, Morag MacDougal had been made Prefect. She was sitting with Mandy Brocklehurst, with Su Li and Lisa Turpin a few seats away from them again. Maverick Runcorn and Kevin Enthwistle, however, hadn't returned and with Padma that made three as well.

Tracey Davies, who looked slightly uncomfortable wearing Pansy Parkinson's Prefect badge, Sophie Roper and Blaise Zabini, who was appointed Prefect after Draco Malfoy, were the only Slytherins in their year to have returned. Hermione wasn't surprised to see Pansy missing. And although Millicent Bullstrode had spent her years at Hogwarts being bullied around by Pansy for being half-blood, Hermione was afraid that the girl had decided to join the Death Eaters. Daphne Greengrass was gone as well, which was no surprise seeing as she was Pansy's best friend. Most of the boys were gone as well.

Hermione turned to look up at the teachers' tables. McGonagall sat in Dumbeldore's old chair of course, with Flitwick next to her as Deputy Headmaster

One of McGonagall's own classmates had been appointed Head of Gryffindor House and Transfiguration Professor. Hermione wasn't sure if he was here because of his transfiguration abilities of because he was a highly qualified Auror and as such able to protect the students in an emergency situation. It didn't matter much anyway.

Beside him was another odd character. He had auburn hair and beard, an odd-looking nose and always wore wonky-looking sunglasses, even inside. Ron, who had apparently seen him duel with Flitwick, who had been a master duellist in his youth, said he was quite skilled, and both he and Harry looked forward to his lessons – the newly instated Duelling Class.

All in all Hermione was pleased. The fact that Hogwarts was up and running, maybe not as a school but at least as a shelter, gave her hopes for the future. The professors would continue teaching the students, but Hermione was glad to see the changes in the schedules. Like Duelling, there were more specified classes that would prepare the older students for the possibility of entering the war and letting the younger ones know what to do with themselves during an attack. And everyone was to be introduced to the art of healing in a special class held by Madam Pomfrey.

When the feast came to an end Hermione, Ron and Harry were among the last to leave. The two boys where discussing quidditch now. The rest of the students, slowly filing out of the Hall, were whispering amongst themselves, discussing the latest news from the Prophet, reciting to each other their parents' strained arguments. And everyone seemed to be looking at Harry at least once. No wonder, seeing as the Prophet had made him out to be the Chosen One.

With a small sigh Hermione pulled out a small object dangling from a golden chain from under her shirt. It was an elegant Time Tuner filled with gleaming white sand. In many ways it was similar to the Time Turner she had used her third year, but a line of small, bronzy knobs along the bottom made all the difference. It was much more powerful than the earlier editions, most of which had been destroyed when Hermione, Harry and Ron had gone to the Department of mysteries over a year ago. The little knobs, totalling a number of seven, could send you as little as minutes or as long as decades out of your own time. Hermione, knowing better, would avoid those buttons and rely entirely on the safely used button that could give her a couple of more hours in the day. A couple of more hours that would most definitively some in handy if she missed a class of needed more time to research something. Hermione draped the chain from one hand to the other and was letting the enticingly beautiful golden Turner slide form one side to the other. It had already come to good use-

Then suddenly someone called her name and Hermione, now halfway up a staircase, made a little jump. She made to turn around, but as her foot landed on a vanishing step she lost her balance. She seemed to be frozen in the air for a second, in an angle from the staircase. Not quite standing but not quite falling. Not able to steady herself she fell backwards, vaguely aware of hands reaching out for her. She landed on her back further down the staircase, but bounced, spun around and saw flagstone flooring looming closer. She stretched her arms protectively out in front of her vaguely feeling as if everything went rather slower that it was supposed to, as if she was suspended in the spell that saved Harry's life during a quidditch match years previous. But no wands had been pulled fast enough to even attempt such a spell and it was only Hermione's perception of everything around her that had changed - her mind speeding along during a rather short span of time. The ground sped towards her rather than the other way around and something blindingly golden erupted in front of her eyes before everything faded to black.

***

She heard voices and felt hands. People were calling for her, but no matter how much she wanted to she couldn't answer them. She wanted to open her eyes, but found she couldn't. She wanted to wiggle her fingers or toes, or move some other part of her body to make people understood she could hear, but it was as if her body and her brain had parted. Not even lucid enough to panic, she fell asleep.

She dreamt of the Christmas Party the past Christmas. She had gone with Cormac McLaggen after Ron began seeing Lavender Brown. She could see herself in the dream, getting ready for the party. It was as though she was there, but in so many ways she was aware of the fact that she wasn't. She thought that her dream was somewhat like how it would be like being in a Penesieve. She hadn't actually experienced that particular experience herself, but had heard Harry's accounts and done some reading on it.

So she floated around in the dream. She vaguely registered that the time seem to pass in leaps and bounds, seeing as one minute she was in her dormitory smoothing out the wrinkles in her new blue-grey dress robes and the next she was standing under a mistletoe at the party with McLaggens lips on hers and his hands roaming down her body. She shuddered at the very memory and was glad to see the dream shift.

She was hurrying down an empty hall and slipping into a rarely used classroom. Voices were drifting towards her from a room further down the hall. She couldn't quite grasp everything that was said in the dream, remembering that even when it happened she had had a hard time figuring out what had been said. She recognized the voices to belong to Draco Malfoy and Professor Snape – and Snape spoke in such low murmurs that she could hardly hear him.

"Aunt Bellatrix … Occlumency, I see …" came drifting and Hermione strained to hear.

"Looks like you'll have to break it, then, because I don't need your protection!" Malfoy practically yelled – Hermione could hear him perfectly, "It's my job, he gave it to me and I'm doing it. I've got a plan and it's going to work, it's just taking a bit longer than I thought it would!"

Hermione looked at herself. She remembered the event very clearly. She hadn't expected to stumble across this conversation when she fled from the Party and from McLaggen. She could see herself standing practically glued to the door listening.

"I've got all the assistance I need, thanks, I'm not alone!"

She remembered how doubts had begun to settle in her stomach during that conversation. She and Ron had been silently ignoring Harry whenever he began talking about Draco Malfoy – and now he was practically begin questioned by Snape, who was a member of the Order!

"They're not the only ones. I've got other people on my side, better people!"

"Then why not confide in me and I can – "

"I know what you're up to! You want to steal my glory!"

Hermione had been utterly confused when that conversation ended. She had remained in the dark classroom for ten minutes after the two of them had left. Her mind had been working at neck-braking speed. Had Harry been right in his suspicion all along?

She followed herself in the dream, confidently making her way through the castle with over five years of familiarity. She saw herself stop suddenly and saw a pale figure framed in moonlight.

When she blinked everything vanished and she turned to another dream.

_*** _

Hermione's mind awakened first as suddenly as one wakes from a bad dream in a dark room. For a couple of minutes she couldn't sense anything and her body wouldn't respond to her minds prodding. But in an explosion of emotions every fibre of her body reconnected with her brain and she groaned in pain. She vaguely heard the scuttling of feet and a cool hand was placed on her forehead. Murmured voices, words Hermione couldn't grasp. Her eyelids strained against the seams of her eyes before managing to open her eyes to the whiteness around her. Slowly her eyes adjusted to the bright light of a room Hermione recognized to be the Hospital Wing. _Good_, she thought, grateful to still find herself at Hogwarts. Trying desperately to focus Hermione vaguely made out three blurry shapes leaning over her. She closed her eyes again and took a deep breath.

She opened her eyes and froze in shock. Dumbledore was leaning over her bed flanked by McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey. But he wasn't supposed to be here! What was he doing here? His blue eyes twinkled reassuringly from behind his half-moon spectacles, but Hermione felt anything _but _reassured.

Desperately trying to make her body agree with her Hermione managed to raise herself up in a sitting position with her back against the full pillows. When her vision blurred Hermione groaned, closed her eyes and leaned her head backwards. Madam Pomfrey clicked her tongue in a disapproving manner and draped a chilled cloth over Hermione's forehead. Hermione heard footsteps retreating and suspected the nurse was collecting medicines from the storeroom. Hermione's thoughts were spinning off into the distance and she couldn't muster the strength to follow after and allowed herself to sink into the pillows. Soon the nurse returned and commanded that the two professors step back. She turned to Hermione and removed the cloth with a swish of her wand. Hermione tilted her head back up and a scent that reminded her strongly of rotting fruit hit her nostrils. A spoon bulging with potion hovered in front of her lips. After a short glance at the nurse's narrowed eyes Hermione opened her mouth obediently and swallowed the foul-tasting medicine. She battled the urge to vomit and eagerly grasped the glass of water offered her. The cool liquid washed away the layer of potion that coated her mouth and, as the nurse turned back to the selection of bottles lining the table next to the bed, Hermione turned her attention to the two who stood patiently watching her from a short distance. Her eyes ran up and down Dumbledore, her mind desperately trying to figure out why, how, he was standing there. He noticed her stare and grasped McGonagall by the arm. He pulled her into a corner and proceeded to engage her in a hushed conversation.

Madam Pomfrey fed Hermione another two potions before she brought out her wand and let it glide along the length of Hermione's body. Whenever an area started to glow the nurse would mutter an incantation Hermione didn't recognize before continuing. The pain Hermione had initially felt waking up subsided. Eventually the nurse made an approving sound and pocketed her wand. With a nod at the two in the corner she collected her bottles and returned them to the storeroom.

The two familiar figures approached Hermione and Dumbledore pulled two chairs out of the air for them to sit in. She gazed at him, still uncertain of what to call him. Should she call him Headmaster when McGonagall had been appointed Headmistress? Should she call him professor? Albus? But then she shook those thoughts away. What she was going to call him was the least of her problems seeing as he shouldn't be here at all!

"What intrigues me the most," Dumbledore began, "Is how you have come to be found on the floor of the school, clad in Gryffindor robes, pinned with a Head Girl badge non the least, when I have absolutely no recollection of ever seeing you before." Hermione looked at him in shock, everything else momentarily forgotten.

"What do you mean, Professor? I have attended this school since I was eleven!" Hermione's brown eyes darted from Dumbledore to McGonagall and then back again. Dumbledore arched one silvery-white eyebrow and briefly turned his attention towards McGonagall.

"Ah! That should simplify matters greatly."

"I should think not!" she exclaimed with a huff. "I know my magical history, Albus and nothing is simple when one meddles with time!" Dumbledore smiled, obviously amused and turned back to Hermione.

"Minerva her is inclined to believe that you arrived by means of a Time Turner, but seeing as no Time Turner was found at the scene, I, however, am inclined to believe-." Dumbledore was cut off as Hermione gasped and her hands plummeted into the soft covers to steady herself.

"What do you mean 'no Time Turner'?" she demanded, "I had it when I fell!" Dumbledore's eyebrows rose remarkably and he leaned closer to Hermione.

"So you are truly from the future," he mumbled as if to himself. He focused his intense blue gaze on her eyes and Hermione quickly turned away. Her mind was reeling with the information she had gathered during their short conversation. She had travelled in time. That would explain Dumbledore's presence. _Headmaster Dumbledore,_ she thought with a smile. But how far back was she?

"So you _did_ arrive here using a Time Turner," the Headmaster said and relaxed back in his seat. Hermione fidgeted nervously with the bleached sheet on her bed.

"Which year is this?" she asked, dreading the answer.

"1977," McGonagall said studying her reaction closely. Hermione paled and leaned into the supporting pillows. Her thoughts were galloping; trying to gather all the information she had ever heard or read considering this period in the magical history.

"Two years," she whispered, "two years."

"Excuse me?" the Headmaster said, leaning closer. Hermione swallowed with some difficulty.

"I'm born in two years," she whispered.

"Well, we'll certainly try to send you back home," Dumbledore said with a cheery smile. "It might take a couple of months, to say the least, but I'm positive-."

"A couple of months! At least?" Hermione asked, "but I'm supposed to start lessons today, I have-" Dumbledore broke her off smartly.

"There will be time for classes," Dumbledore said reassuringly and gave her an amused smile. "After deciphering the clue that was your Gryffindor robe, we can safely assume that you belong in Gryffindor tower, miss . . .?"

"Granger, Hermione Granger," Hermione said.

"Well, Miss Granger, you will of course continue your schooling here, until we find the proper means to send you back into the future."

"The Head Girl position is unfortunately taken, but we will put you up with the seventh year girls and you will continue your schooling were you left off." McGonagall said patting Hermione's arm affectionately.

"Thanks," Hermione said and managed a small smile.

"I'll have Miss Evans pick you up in the morning," Dumbledore said as he rose from the chair.

"Miss Evans?" Hermione asked wearily, sitting up straight. "Lily Evans?" Dumbledore stood unnervingly still for a moment. McGonagall rose and the two of them exchanged looks.

"Don't tell me you're currently housing Lily Evans and James Potter!" Hermione demanded to know, eyes wide with emotion.

"We'll talk later," the Headmaster said. "And until then you will not tell anyone what you know." Hermione nodded in agreement and dropped back down on the pillows.

With a flick of Dumbledore's wand the two chairs vanished and he left the Hospital Wing with McGonagall in tow. Hermione's mind was working fervently. She was in the past._ She was currently lying in the Hospital Wing of a Hogwarts that had already happened_, she thought, barely even making sense in her own head; _she was in a Hogwarts where Dumbledore was still Headmaster_.

And by being here she held in the palm of her hand the destiny of one of her closest friends. Her words and actions could change the wizarding world as she knew it. _And Harry could have a chance to know his parents_.

But unfortunately for Harry, Hermione had been strictly tutored in the laws of time magic and she knew that whatever she changed could and probably would result in something even worse. Who could tell what Voldemort would become if his own Killing Curse didn't bounce off of Harry, turning back on its creator? Who could tell what grip he would claim on the wizarding world, which lives would never find their ways into existence and which would be brutally ended before their time? And Hermione couldn't risk turning the world she knew and loved into something even worse, only on the mere chance, the hope, that she could make it better.

And Hermione cried into her pillow that nigh, as she battled a voice inside her head, a voice that sounded unmistakably like the little boy who had suffered injustice every day of his life since that fateful day when Voldemort robbed him of his parents.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling. Everything you recognize belongs to her.

***

Hermione woke the next day as dazzling sunlight pounced on her closed eyes. She groaned as the dream slipped from her mind and opened one eye. Madam Pomfrey was on the other side of the room, with a playful smile and raised eyebrows, magically sweeping the curtains to the side.

"I'll have you know," Hermione muttered as she flipped down the cover, "That I was in the middle of a rather entertaining dream." The nurse tied the curtains back with a flourish of her wand and approached Hermione's bed.

"I have arranged your potions," she said, indicating a line of variously coloured glass bottles. "They are to be taken at the appropriate time, every day for a week." Hermione nodded and the nurse launched herself into an explanation of exactly what sort of potions Hermione would be dealing with and how to properly take them. Soon Hermione's mind was reeling with information, on how certain potions eliminated each other and which sorts of potions worked as neutralisers and would best stabilize the individual healing draughts. Madam Pomfrey turned from the line of glass bottles and looked at Hermione. With a small sigh, Hermione recited the proper order of the potions and the nurse smiled approvingly.

"You'll do fine, dear," she said and left Hermione's side. Hermione's eyes followed her as she crossed the room and parted the curtains around the only other occupied bed in the wing. A mop of black hair was instantly visible among the bleached covers. Without further ado the nurse pulled out her wand. With a flick of her wand she pulled a heap of snow out of thin air and unceremoniously let it drop onto the black-haired boy. With a girlish scream and a hurried wriggle he appeared on top of his pillows. His grey eyes flitted from the masses of white snow covering the sheets to the nurse standing by his bed.

"What the bloody hell did you do that for?" he demanded to know, grabbing his own wand and quickly vanishing the snow. With a smug smile and laughter in her eyes Madam Pomfrey turned around and walked towards her storerooms. Hermione could have sworn she received a wink from the usually strict nurse. The boy muttered under his breath as he slipped back under the now undoubtedly chilled sheets. His head fell back on the pillow and his eyes closed. Hermione couldn't help but study him. There was something unnervingly familiar about him. In the way his dark hair gracefully fell over his forehead, in the way he leaped away from a possible danger, something in his stance as he crouched low with his wand out in front of him, in how his voice could be smooth and dangerous at the same time, how his eyes twinkled with annoyance and respect at the same time . . . And Hermione gasped as she realised exactly where she was and what possibilities could be found around every corner. And in the bed across from hers a pair of grey eyes opened and focused on her.

He raised himself up in the bed and his eyes trailed down her face, lingering on her mouth, before dropping further down. Hermione hurriedly folded the white sheets over the hospital bedclothes she was dressed in. A blush appeared on her cheeks, but she bravely lifted her chin and looked at him. He smiled coyly and gave her a wink. Hermione mustered all her strength and desperately tried not to roll her eyes.

"Hi," he said, leaning back onto the pillows, stretching like a cat. Hermione swallowed. He certainly looked good and Hermione's eyes were glued to him as his shirt stretched across his chest. Her blush deepened even further as she realised what she was doing and she hurriedly brought her eyes to his face. Hermione quickly battled her blushing, for once in her life thankful for the summers she had spent at the Burrow.

(Ginny Weasley had six brothers and most of them were considered eye-candy by a large amount of the female population, including Hermione. And after sharing one bathroom with a handful of gorgeous wizards for several summers in a row, Hermione had certainly lived through her fair share of embarrassing incidents. By the fifth time one of Ginny's brothers stumbled into a room to find Hermione half-naked, or the other way around, she had learned how to restrain her blushing. She felt the corners of her mouth pull upwards as she mentally counted the number of times Fred or George had tripped into the bathroom before or after her showers during the past summer. And although there were two of them and as such she never could be quite certain which one she ran into at any given time, they were probably the ones who had caught her halfway undressed most often. _To Ron's despair_, Hermione thought with a grin.)

But Hermione shook away her memories and, confident her blushing had subsided, turned her attention back to the boy draped across the bed on the opposite side of the room.

"Hello," she said, smiling and reached for her wand. She summoned one of the screens and, grabbing a pile of clothes from a nearby chair, disappeared behind it. She removed the hospital shirt and looked at the clothes in her hand. They weren't hers. It was still a Hogwarts uniform, with a skirt, a shirt, a jumper, stockings, shoes and a tie under a plain, black robe, but there were distinct differences. The red and gold bands of the Gryffindor tie were broader; the texture of the skirt fabric slightly different; the details of the robe weren't the same; and the Gryffindor patch on the chest of the robe seemed different as well. Hermione trusted it to be the school uniform of the seventies and quickly pulled on the stockings, the skirt and the shirt, deciding not to wear the jumper or the robe.

Just as she made to magic the screen away, a scroll of parchment appeared in a puff of flame.

_To miss Granger_, the note read, in Dumbledore's neat writing, _You will continue your schooling, taking the name Leandra Sophia Tawnee, as an exchange student from _Highmore School of Witches_ in __South England__. You will meet me in my office at __nine o'clock__ this evening. I trust you know where to find it. Sincerely yours, Headmaster Dumbledore._

As Hermione finished reading the note the parchment crumbled together and vanished. With a sigh she flicked her wand and the screen appeared back in its place. She looked up to find him still looking at her.

"I'm Leandra Tawnee," Hermione said and dropped into a chair.

"Sirius Black," he said with a grin, "Pleased to meet you." He flipped the covers aside, revealing, for the second time that day, his white t-shirt and blue-striped pyjama pants. "You're a Gryffindor," Sirius said, with a puzzled look and pointed to the red and golden tie on Hermione's bed.

"Yeah, I was sorted yesterday," she lied, "I changed school after my parents died."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"That's alright," Hermione said, nut sure if she felt bad because she was lying to Sirius, or because she was claiming her parents had died.

"How come you're in the Hospital Wing?"

"I had an accident on my way over," Hermione said, amazed over how easily these lies rolled of her tongue. "Involving a flight of stairs and a poltergeist."

"Ah, understandable," the young version of Harry's godfather said with a smile.

"How come you're in here?" Hermione inquired and was pleased to see pink blossoming on his cheeks. He mumbled incoherently and before Hermione could even begin to decipher what he had said Madam Pomfrey appeared by his bed. With a sharp flick of her wand the screen folded itself close around the bed, effectively shielding the two of them from view.

"Not again?" Hermione could hear Sirius complain.

"When you are stupid enough to get yourself catapulted of a broom," came the nurse's response, "These things are unfortunately a necessity. Now, Mr. Black, you've been in here enough to know this procedure by heart . . ." Hermione grinned as Madam Pomfrey's voice droned on and she turned away from the shielded bed. She strolled down the length of the room, gazing wistfully out the windows

When Hermione heard the sound of a screen being wheeled aside, she headed back towards Sirius. Madam Pomfrey was walking towards the storeroom with a large jar and Sirius was hastily putting on his robes. But not before Hermione had noticed something.

"Why are your arms blue?" she asked, as she came to a stop in front of Sirius. He blushed and she noticed his hand twitch, as if he wanted to grab his wand and hex her. "What _did_ you do?" Hermione asked, knowing very well that she was getting on his nerves. But he was well aware of the fact that she was a new student and he couldn't even begin to fathom what the consequences would be for a good round of cursing. His mouth opened and closed for a second, before he was spared saying anything by the doors of the Hospital Wing swinging open. A girl appeared and Hermione tried hard not to stare.

All confidence from top to bottom, Lily Evans walked towards them, black robe elegantly swirling in her wake, dark red hair falling below her shoulders, green eyes glinting. And Hermione felt a tightening in her throat as she thought of Harry's eyes. She smiled broadly and offered her hand to Hermione.

"Lily Evans, Head Girl," she said, "Pleased to meet you." Hermione smiled and shook her hand.

"Leandra Tawnee," she said. Hermione watched with amusement as Lily's gaze turned to rest on Sirius and her smile faltered. She looked at him suspiciously.

"What are you doing here, Black? It's only the third day of term." Sirius gaped at her and she huffed. With a last glance at Sirius, Lily stepped up beside Hermione and hooked her own arm around Hermione's. With a casual flick of her wand, Hermione's robe, jumper and tie leaped into the air. With a smile, Lily led her out of the infirmary, Hermione's clothes trailing leisurely behind them. The two of them fell into friendly chatter and made their way up to the Gryffindor Tower.

Hermione collected her clothes out of the air as they stopped in front of the entrance paining and draped them across her arm, before following Lily into the Common Room. Hermione hid a surprised gasp as she stepped into the room. It was bigger than she'd ever seen it, and brimming with people. Even taking into account that many were bound to be scattered around on the castle and on the school grounds, this was an overwhelming amount of people. In all her years at Hogwarts she had barely seen Gryffindor house peak one hundred students, and this appeared to be the double. She leaned towards Lily and asked in a whisper: "How many students are there in Gryffindor?"

"Some 260, I think," Lily said. "Everyone," she continued, raising her voice, "this is Leandra Tawnee." A ripple of greetings ran through the room. Hermione smiled and waved. Lily guided her through the room, introducing her to several of the people they passed, before slipping out of the crowd and ascending the stairs up to the girls' quarters. They passed many doors, before finally reaching the landing labelled _Seventh Year Girls_ at the very top. Lily opened one of the three doors and let Hermione enter. Five beds were positioned around the octagonal room, with adjourning closets and each with a trunk at the foot of the bed, in varying designs and sizes.

"This one will be yours," Lily said, indicating the first bed to the right. Hermione stepped over to it, and dumped her clothes on it.

"This is mine," Lily said, walking over to the bed following Hermione's. "That door leads to the bathroom," Lily pointed at the second door in the room. "It's got a mind of its own and the numbers of shower stalls vary monthly, if not even weekly." Lily dropped down on her own bed. "I've got a Head Girls room, of course, but I tend to favour this one."

Hermione had barley sat down on her own bed before the door opened. A girl with dark blond hair and pale blue eyes entered the room and she quickly stepped over to Hermione.

"Hi," she said, sounding slightly out of breath, "I'm Elana Cressida." Hermione accepted her hand.

"I'm Leandra Tawnee." The girl smiled, before dropping down on the bed directly across from Hermione's. Soon a second girl appeared. She was identical to the first one, with the same blond hair and blue eyes. She smiled at Hermione.

"Hi, I'm Ayla Cressida," she said and offered Hermione her hand.

"Pleased to meet you, I'm Leandra Tawnee," Hermione said, shaking it. The blonde grinned and propelled herself on top of her twin, sending both of them crashing to the ground. A couple of minutes of swearing later, the two girls were placed in neighbouring beds.

Lily looked at the pair with raised eyebrows, but didn't say anything. Soon footsteps could be heard in the stairs and the last inhabitant of the room appeared. One thick, brown plait was draped across her shoulder and her dark brown, almost black eyes, jumped from one person to the other, before finally resting on Hermione.

"Hello," she said, depositing a book on the table next to her bed, before approaching Hermione. "You must be the occupant of our mysterious bed."

"I am. My name's Leandra Tawnee," Hermione said and propped out her hand. The other girl smiled and shook it.

"Pleased to meet you, I'm Laurel Loudwater." She walked over to her bed and sat down, crossed-legged, on it. The five girls sat in silence for a minute, looking at each other.

"You're aware of the fact that your bed almost smothered me?" Ayla said with a smile. Hermione's eyes widened.

"What?"

"Yeah, I was on the floor by the door, in our perfectly fine hexagonal room, might I add, innocently looking for a bag of Bertie Bott's, when suddenly all the walls shifted and that massive bed appeared out of thin air!"

"That wouldn't happen to be my bag of Bertie Bott's, Ayla?" Lily asked, a smile glinting in her eyes.

"Totally beside the point," the blonde replied casually. "As is said- I was half-way under Lily's bed one second and then the next I was out on in the open with a massive four-poster bed hanging over me! And to make my point crystal clear, nothing good can ever come out of a massive Gryffindor four-poster hanging in the air over your head!" Her twin silenced her with a pillow across the head.

"Ayla's always the one for drama," she said, smiling at Hermione, "In reality she was sitting on Lily's bed, enjoying a few stolen goods and as the room shifted she suddenly found herself sprawled across the floor. The bed wasn't even near her!" The girls laughed as Ayla poked out her tongue.

"And in addition," Laurel said, "we got a balcony." She pointed across the room, to a floor-to-ceiling door opening leading out to a balcony.

"Did you notice the other doors when you reached out floor?" Ayla asked. Hermione nodded.

"We're fifteen girls in seventh year, including you, giving us an even five in each of the three rooms."

"But this is by far the best," Elana said with a laugh.

"You'll get to know the other girls soon enough," Lily said.

Hermione smiled as the conversation sped on, glad that she was well on her way to making a couple of friends in the past.

***

A couple of entertaining hours later, Hermione was the only one left in the dormitory. After spending years with Ron and Harry, Hermione felt relieved to be a part of a female group. Neither Parvati nor Lavender had tried to include her; Hermione being too bookish and serious for their liking. And although Hermione felt close to Ginny, there was always something serious about the petite girl, a terrifying reminder of what she had gone through. She, who had always been cherished and loved by a band of older brothers, had desperately been seeking confirmation and reassurance during their early friendship years and later, as she grew confident, she became so bold and self-assured that Hermione barely dared restrain her.

But in the company of these four girls Hermione felt safe. They were fun loving and mischievous, but on they same time they could wrap themselves up in a good book, cherish silence and understand the importance of studying. In each of these girls Hermione found both something she cared for and something she knew would desperately get on her nerves. And she didn't care.

She knew Elana would eventually scoff at her studying, saying she took school too seriously, but still she sensed that the girl would seek her help and guidance if she needed it.

She knew that Ayla would say she was too concerned about the rules, that she wasn't able to let go, but she still sensed that she would somehow appreciate Hermione's ability to remain level-headed and realise that you didn't have to break the rules if you could bend them.

She knew that Lily would criticiser her for being too complex, too straightforward while still talking in riddles, but she sensed that the girl would recognize the honesty and vulnerability in her words and actions.

She knew that Laurel would see her as rash and think her ideas unachievable, but she still sensed that she would appreciate the little things Hermione had to offer, the reasonable day-to-day ideas that occasionally made life a little bit easier.

Hermione knew she would find similar things in all of them, thing about them she would love and things about them she would learn to ignore. And Hermione smiled and she hoped she would find her friends in the future, if she ever returned.

As Hermione checked her watch, she realised she had to leave for her meeting with the Headmaster. It was an odd thought, thinking about him with that title, even though McGonagall had only been Headmistress for a few months when the accident happened. She barely dared mention Dumbledore's name in Harry's presence. It brought on such feverous emotions in the boy and he would work seemingly tirelessly for hours and hours on end before collapsing. And whenever the need arose for the three of them to discuss the old Professor, Hermione always wrapped herself up in her shell, terrified that she might let her secret slip, the secret she had kept mostly on her own shoulders for the past six months. She shrugged the thoughts away, being appropriately aware of Dumbledore's powers enough not to have anything concerning him skimming the surface of her mind, ready to be plucked out.

She made to leave the dormitory, but stopped as she caught eye of her reflection in the full-length mirror in Laurels wardrobe door.

Her brown hair fell in heavy curls to the middle of her back. Hermione slowly ran her hand through it. Both the length and the years had removed some of the bushiness of her earlier Hogwarts year. But still, if she cut it short she knew it would be like a pyramid around her face. Her nose was rather average, her brown eyes, much to Lavenders constant annoyance, were framed in thick, dark lashes and her lips, neither plump nor thin, now covered white teeth of average size, compliments of Draco Malfoy's wayward spell in their forth year, as well as, naturally, Madam Pomfrey's corrections.

Hermione never fancied herself particularly tall, but then, compared to Ron everyone was dwarfed. Harry wasn't much taller than her and she was taller than Ginny and taller than Lily. Her breasts weren't noticeably large, but her waist was narrow, making them appear slightly larger. Her arms and legs were discreetly muscular, thanks to Hermione's training during the past years. Ever since her childhood she had been fond of hiking and being active with her family and she used to attend dance-lessons before her Hogwarts-letter arrived.

She had slowly started to exercise again during her fifth year, particularly after founding the D. A. along with Ron and Harry. And when she, during the following summer, started having nightmares about the events in the Department of Mysteries, she had found herself awake in the early hours of the day. One day she had jumped out of bed, still trembling with the aftermath of the dream and left the house for a long jog. Everything had escalated from that point. And even after she returned to Hogwarts, she'd find herself waking up in the wee hours of the morning, pressing her body further as she tried to rid her mind of her dreams. On the positive side, though, she had found that the training cleared her mind. It gave enabled her to see things in a new light and she found herself remembering things she would normally have forgotten. During her training she pushed her mind further, coming up with new ideas and delving into the science of magic, finally giving her that time in the day when she could thoroughly think everything through.

Suddenly Hermione was noticed too see how tense she looked. Her shoulders were raised and her arms were kept safely close to her body. _Years of near-contact with dark wizards made that happen_, she realised. Taking a deep breath she lowered her shoulders and felt her body relax, a felling she had almost forgotten. There was something there still, something that wouldn't let go. _Voldemort is still around_, she reminded herself, _he just hasn't resurrected himself from the dead just yet_. And she realised it would take some time until she realised she didn't have to worry about Harry constantly any longer.

But his fate wasn't decided yet. The fates of the people she had befriended were. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't quite come over the fact that Lily, the sweet, red-headed girl who occupied the bed next to hers, would get married, give birth and die within the next couple of years. _I'm guessing I still have some worrying left in me._

Without a last glance at her own reflection Hermione left the room.

***

Hermione left Lily in the Common Room, assuring her that she'd find her way to the Headmaster's Office.

She was glad to be walking along the familiar paths of the castle and as she passed paintings and statues, she remembered happenings from her younger years.

If she used the small, rickety stairs hidden behind a heavy red tapestry decorated with apples she would appear in the hallway housing the entrance to the kitchens, where she had, on several occasions, tried to talk the House Elves into asking for their freedom. And later she had come to beg a favour of the one elf she would have thought beyond hope.

If she continued down the path decorated with paintings of dragons, she'd soon find herself in front of the blank wall that hid the Room of Requirement, where Harry had successfully trained them in Defence Against the Dark Arts under Dolores Umbridge's reign.

Other paths, some not even depicted in the Marauders map, would bring her deep within the castle, into secret rooms where she would hide the biggest secret from the ones she loved and cared for.

Her eyes jumped from painting to painting, remembering odd conversations, when she had been hunting out historic persons, engaging them in academic discussions. Seeing doors, realising she barely knew where they led, even after years at Hogwarts. Seeing little things everywhere around her, reminding her of everyone she knew in the future.

She was totally unprepared when she slammed into another body.

Strong hands grasped her upper arms, steadying her. With an apology on her lips she looked up at the face of a boy around her own age. His hair was black, framing a pale face. His nose was slightly crooked and his eyes were as dark as the night. His breath was warm against her face. Hermione's hands were pressed against his chest and she could feel the steady beat of his heart.

"I'm sorry," she said with an apologetic smile, "I didn't see anyone coming."

"That's alright," he said softly, stepping back. "You're the new student, right?" Hermione nodded.

"Leandra Tawnee," she said, offering her hand. He grasped it with a smile.

"A pleasure to meet you. Where are you heading at this hour?" He inquired.

"To the Headmasters office."

"Well," he said, looking around, "You seem to have ended up at the wrong side of the castle." Hermione looked up and saw that he was right. In all her rambling of thoughts, she had long since past the Headmasters office.

"Oh, well I -"

"Don't worry," he said, "I'll walk you there." Hermione managed a nod and they turned to walk down a corridor. The conversation ran easy, as they talked about the different historic events portrayed in the tapestries and paintings lining the walls. And Hermione looked at him from the corner of her eye, silently appraising what she saw.

Too soon they found themselves in front of the tall gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office. They stood facing each other, him taller than her, his chest decorated with a green serpent, hers with a red lion.

"I guess I'll see you later, in class," he said, "You're a seventh year, right?" Hermione nodded.

"Well, bye then," Hermione said.

"Bye." He turned and walked back down the corridor. Right before he rounded the corner he stopped and looked at her. "My name is Severus Snape, by the way," he said and gave her a small wave before he disappeared.

Hermione had already guessed.

His was another name scarcely mentioned around Harry, for obvious reasons. Hermione had her own reasons not to discuss the subject with the two boys and diverted their attentions every time Ron foolishly wandered onto uncertain grounds.

She turned back to face the gargoyle and told it the password and it revealed the winding staircase. As she stood on one of the stone steps, swirling upwards, she wondered what Ron and Harry would say when she told them about this meeting, if she ever could.

She doubted Harry would manage too see things clearly for quite a while, even after she sat down with him to tell him everything.

Hermione hoped she would have the chance to tell him herself.

She hoped he would be alive for her to tell.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling. Everything you recognize belongs to her.

***

Hermione returned to the common room a couple of hours later. She had told Dumbledore what he needed to know, which, as Hermione had informed him, was very little. She had refused to name any names and had promptly silenced herself when he began to inquire about future events. They had discussed time travel magic and this was the only subject in which Hermione allowed herself to speak freely, as her return could depend on the information she knew. But all in all Hermione was fairly certain the old man had drawn many conclusions and understood much more than she had told.

She gave the people who greeted her with a small wave before climbing the stairs and entering the dormitory. Elana was lying in Lily's bed, reading one of Lily's magazines. She looked up as Hermione entered.

"'Lo, Lea," she said with a smile before returning to the magazine. Hermione dropped down on her new bed and draped one arm over her eyes, groaning in response. Elana gave a small giggle and absentmindedly began tapping her foot into one of the bedposts.

_Tap._

Hermione's head was spinning with information from the discussion she had just participated in. He hadn't said much about what methods could be used to send her forwards to her own time and had only briefly explained the concepts of time travel.

_Tap._

Firstly, the chance of sending her back with a Time Turner was pretty slim. And even if you could find a Time Turner in nineteen-seventy-seven that could bring you two decades into the future, which you couldn't, the Ministry had very strong rules standing concerning the use of their Turners.

_Tap._

And Dumbledore wasn't too interested in sending her case to the ministry. Hermione agreed whole-heartedly, wondering if they would force-feed her Veritaserum, if necessary, to get the information they wanted. Hermione was well aware of the fact that she could wreck much damage herself, considering all the knowledge she possessed about the future, but she knew the ministry could do far worse. If they learned about Voldemort, they would certainly think themselves obligated to act.

_Tap._

Potions, although highly efficient in healing the body, or allowing your mind to get a brief glance of the past or future, handled the travelling of matter badly. Hermione was just too aware, after having read about several experiments gone wrong in _Moste Potente Potions_, the book she, Harry and Ron got out of the Restricted Sections in their second year.

_Tap._

Spells, though very variable, were far from the stable science of potions-making. Although vexed students often threatened to hex their schoolmates days into the future, this was highly draining and even a master witch or wizard would be left magically exhausted if they were to send another human being a couple of months into the future.

_Tap. _

A combination of different magical approaches, which often included re-making or inventing potions and spells, would take too much time to research and test and they didn't even have the certainty of it working at all.

_Tap._

McGonagall, who had been present, although very silently, at the meeting, had proposed the idea that Hermione's accidental time travelling would simply pull her back into her own time eventually and both Dumbledore and Hermione saw the logic in her arguments.

_Tap._

But Hermione couldn't make herself trust that. She needed to know that some effort was being put into sending her back where she belonged. She needed to know that she'd be back with Ron and Harry soon, instead of thinking that she's see them in the future, twenty years their senior, calmly explaining to them what had-

_Tap._

With a groan Hermione broke loose from her train of though and lifted her head to glare at Elana. The blonde girl was deeply immersed in Lily's sparkling magazine.

_Tap._

"Elana!" Hermione moaned, dropping her head back down on the pillow. The girls giggled apologetically.

"Sorry," she said, "Bad habit, I guess." Hermione waved her hand absentmindedly and pulled herself back up. She swung her feet off the bed and found her footing on the slightly chilled stone floor. She bent over the brand new trunk at the foot of her bed, the unfamiliar initials L. S. T. emblazed in silver on the lid. With an inaudible sigh she opened it and pulled out a long, stunningly purple and white, tie-dyed shirt. She donned the unfamiliar piece of clothing and returned to her bed, this time slipping under the covers.

As she closed her eyes, her thoughts focused on Ron and Harry. She wondered vaguely what they were doing, until realising they wouldn't be born for another two or three years. _Three in Harry's case_, she thought, _two in mine_.

And she wondered how long she would stay in this decade. She wondered if she'd make a life for herself here. She wondered, what she would do if Dumbledore found a way for her to return when she had settled in this world. What would she do? And if she ever returned, would she find the friends she had made and tell them and explain to them, why she so suddenly appeared and why she so suddenly had to disappear. On the other hand, would Ron and Harry still be her friends if she lived twenty years without them? Would they understand her, or even believe her, if she turned up at Hogwarts the day after she disappeared, claiming she was their friend. What if she, in this world, found a man to love, what if _her own children_ went to Hogwarts with her? What if-

_Tap._

"Enough with the bloody tapping!" Hermione exclaimed, receiving only a giggle from the offending girl. _Damn the future_, Hermione found herself thinking, _if I have to live with this infernal tapping for much longer, I'll kill the girl with my bare hands and land myself in Azkaban for it!_

And with the thought_ 'maybe Sirius will be my cell-pal?' _Hermione fell asleep.

***

Hermione had quite a startling wake-up call the following morning. A sudden, loud screech brutally woke her from her dreams and, hurriedly raising herself up in a sitting position, her eyes landed on the twins, face-to-face in the centre of the room, arguing loudly.

Lily, who was sitting in her bed, was gazing at the sisters, looking quite amused and Laurel, through years of training, no doubt, was thoroughly ignoring the pair as she leafed through her halfway un-packed trunk. The volume rose to another level and Hermione flinched. She hurriedly slipped out of the bed and kneeled in front of the trunk, hoping to find some toiletries in its still unfamiliar depth. Returning victorious with a comb, a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste (quickly deciding that anything else she might need decidedly had to wait until the sound level had decreased), she hurried towards the bathroom, flanked by a still amused-looking Lily.

Hermione closed the door behind them, thankful to hear that it muted the two girls noticeably. With a sigh, Hermione approached one of the sinks and proceeded to wash her hands and face. Lily dropped down on one of the stools and began brushing her dark red hair.

"Are they always like this?" Hermione asked desperately, looking at Lily in the mirror.

"Just before and after holidays," Lily said, with an unnerving grin, "when all their stuff has been mixed up." An explosion of noise made Hermione start and she vaguely heard the read-head snigger as she spun around to face the door. Laurel entered, giving them both an apologetic smile. Hermione turned back to the sink and started to brush her teeth. In the mirror she could see Laurel standing behind Lily, braiding her hair.

"And when they're stressed," Lily said suddenly.

"What?"

"They argue when they're stressed," Lily repeated, "Around exams, for example. You should have _heard_ them when we approached our O.W.L.'s!"

"Oh," Laurel said, "they tend to be at each others throats whenever boys are involved. Oddly enough they tend to fancy the same one."

"And how often are there boys involved?" Hermione asked wearily. Lily grinned mischievously.

"Weekly."

"But it's never as bad as the first week back after the summer," Laurel said with a smile.

"A whole _week_?" Hermione asked incredulously, "How do you live through it?"

"Ah," Lily sighed, still smiling, "The entertainment factor is rather high." Hermione raised her eyebrows unbelievingly. Laurel nodded and tied a ribbon at the end of Lily's braid.

"Come on," the taller girl said with a smile, "If you'd just sit down and watch them, you'll understand what we mean."

***

And after looking at the arguing sisters for fifteen minutes, Hermione had to admit that Lily and Laurel were right. Although it looked terribly serious at the first glance, the truth became apparent when you really studied them. The pair of them seemed to enjoy their extravagantly loud verbal assaults immensely and Hermione could even see a competition within the argument.

Shaking her head slightly, Hermione left the dorm with Lily and Laurel, leaving the twins to argue in peace, humoured by the fact that they were perfectly audible all the way down the winding staircase.

The three girls manoeuvred their way across the Common Room and crawled out the portrait hole. Thirty minutes and three swivelling staircases later, they appeared in the Great Hall, feeling famished, Hermione even more so than the other two. The only thing she had eaten since the feast on September 1st, in her own time, was a couple of _Honeydukes' Best_ up in the dorm and some sandwiches and tea in Dumbledore's office. Having a student appear from the future seemed to have made them forget to feed her and Hermione couldn't be troubled to make her way down to the kitchens, although she seemed to be subconsciously heading in that direction the past night, when she ran into Snape.

So Hermione eagerly sat down by the table and piled her plate with the kind of food Ron would usually eat: scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon and practically everything else within reach. She looked around in the hall as she ate, barely paying attention to the conversations around her. The student body seemed to be at least the triple of the students she had left behind. What had happened?

As Hermione finished off her breakfast, Lily, who was sitting directly across her, looked up as someone approached the table.

"Hi, Remus!" she said and Hermione spun around. There, in front of her, was her Defence Against the Dark Arts professor fro her third year, minus twenty years, or so.

"The rest of the crowd still in bed?" Lily asked and Remus nodded.

"You know as well as I do that there's no getting them out of bed before noon on a Sunday," he replied with a smile.

"Well, you'll have to join us then," Lily said, pointing at the empty seat next to Hermione.

"Hi," Hermione said with a smile. "I'm Leandra Tawnee."

"Remus Lupin," he replied, "a pleasure to meet you. Although I've heard of you already." Hermione looked at him quizzically. "From Sirius Black. I understand you met in the Hospital Wing?"

"Yes we did, what did he say?" Hermione asked.

"He arrived at the Common Room not long after Lily introduced you yesterday. He demanded we hex you," Remus said nonchalantly, reaching for the plate of toast, "He claimed you bewitched his skin blue." Hermione looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"I did no such thing!"

"Believe me, I know. He's been rubbed down with Madam Pomfrey's ointments more times that I can count. I think she's been addend different colour into his salves for the past three years, with a vague hope that walking around with coloured skin for a day will have more affect on him. I don't think it's working."

"I think it's a sore spot, though," Hermione said, "He was close to hexing me when I commented on it. Thankfully Lily arrived before he decided what to do."

"He's quite short-tempered and his hexes are nasty," Remus said, with a half-smile.

"Oh, I could have managed," Hermione said calmly, "Although my Bat-Boogie hex isn't quite up to the standard of a friend of mine, it gives a nice sting. And my shield charms are certainly up to par."

"Fighting back would only increase his lust for revenge," Remus commented. Hermione wrinkled her nose and took a sip of her orange juice.

"I'm not the one to back down from a challenge," Hermione said with a small smile, "And he'd be sorry in the end."

"Well, since I've never seen you in action, nor you seen Sirius, I'll just have to take your word for it," Remus said, finishing his toast, "Although now you've made me quite keen on seeing you in a duel. And if you could beat Sirius, I'm sure he'd benefit from the defeat."

"Anyone could benefit from a defeat once in a while," Hermione said with a shrug.

"So," Remus said, sounding interested, "What would you have done to him in a duel?"

***

When they left the Great Hall later, Lily and Laurel turned to walk up the magnificent marble staircase, while Hermione and Remus headed out to the grounds, Remus carrying an assortment of fruits in a napkin transfigured into a small bag. The sun was glittering from across the lake and they strolled towards one of the paths circling it. As they walked their conversation jumped back and forth, starting with hexes and defensive spells, wandering through various school subjects, discussing Wizarding Theory, telling each other stories of their childhood and generally talk about anything they thought of. As they sat down under a willow they had begun discussing Magical Creatures and, oddly enough, werewolves.

"-I mean, in these times there are in reality two kinds of werewolves," Hermione said, "those who want to be werewolves and those who want to be people. And it's the first group who cause the prejudice against werewolves in general. It's their fault the second group are forced out of the wizarding community!" she said with a flourish of waving arms. He was a werewolf and she knew it. She also knew of the hardships he had suffered because of the prejudice that came with it. She was treading dangerous waters and barely dared meet Remus' eye. But she desperately wanted this Remus-of-the-past to trust her.

"And I know _he's_ rallying up the werewolves and nothing good is going to come out of it." She added.

"He?" Remus asked with a _look_ at Hermione. In her own time the name Voldemort was as much feared as she suspected it was here and most of the people Hermione knew now refused to address him with the title _You-Know-Who_, or _He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named_. In the end, since Hermione and Harry had refused to call Voldemort either _You-Know-Who_ or _He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named_, saying it was only stupid to give into the fear by giving him such a foolish name, they had ended up just saying _him _or _he_ whenever they were discussing him. She sighed.

"Voldemort." She said and her suspicion about the name was confirmed as Remus flinched visibly.

"Oh, _him_." They sat in silence for a while. Remus pulled a dark purple plum out of the pouch and offered it to Hermione. She accepted it with a smile and bit a hole in the firm skin, spilling deep red fruit juice on her chin. She wiped it off with the back of her hand and fixed her brown eyes on Remus.

"Werewolves are dangerous creatures, though," Remus said, with an unreadable expression and looked out on the softly rippling water.

"Not willingly," Hermione said, "And there are people working on, well, if not cures, then at least something that will dampen the effects. A person can only be made a monster by lycanthropy if he or she willingly succumbs to it."

"That's not what we've been told in Defence Against the Dark Arts," Remus said silently. Hermione looked at him unbelievingly. _Did he think himself a monster? Even with three good friends to prove him wrong?_

"Then you've had a lousy teacher," Hermione said firmly.

"Really?"

"Come on, you can't really believe the werewolves are that bad! They're only wolves one night out of thirty. They're humans like you and me most of the time," Hermione said and gave him a look. "Why are you so inclined to believe people who've probably never talked to a lycanthrope for more then a minute?"

"Should I believe you? Have you ever talked to a werewolf?" Hermione looked into his gold-specked eyes and bit her lip.

"I knew a werewolf and he was one of the finest men I've ever known," she said firmly, "And you spite everything I ever knew of him by saying that they are monsters." Remus' eyes widened, but he didn't say anything. Hermione felt on the brink of crying. Here he was, tearing himself down and even when she offered everything of herself and what she knew to be true, he couldn't, or wouldn't, dare to grasp what her words offered him. With an angry sound, she rose and made to leave.

"No," Remus whispered and grasped her arm, "Don't leave." She paused for a second and then sat down again.

"What?"

"You're the first person I've ever known who have spoken kindly of a werewolf."

"What does it matter to you?"

"I- I am one," he said and turned away. Hermione smiled softly and looked at the young man in front of her. He was so similar to the man he would become, but still so different. Even at seventeen there were grey hairs among the brown and there were lines of pain in his face.

But even though he had been brave to confess, she sensed there was still much in him that expected her to get up, run away and never turn back, even with everything she had told him. His face was turned away from her, his gaze firmly planted somewhere on the surface of the lake, though clearly looking for something far beyond what this world could offer. His shoulders were tense and the muscles in his jaw were tightening as he clamped his teeth shut.

She dropped a light hand on his shoulders and his eyes jumped to rest on her. She could easily read the amazement in them. _She is still here_, they said, but he dared not yet hope. She knew he had lost many friends to foolish hope. She rose to her knees and leaned forward so that she could wrap her arms around him. His whole body gave a shudder before relaxing and he leaned into her, burying his face in her hair and she felt his chest expand and his shoulders raise and drop, as he breathed heavily in relief.

And she clung to him desperately, wanting with all of herself to bring him some happiness, to show him that not everyone ran away. She had trusted him and had hid his secret for months, when she had discovered it in her third year and she trusted him now and would guard his secret as long as it would be required.

A couple of minutes later she leaned back enough to get a look at his face. Smiling she brought her hands to his face, wiping away the tears that had sprung from his eyes. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek before settling down next to him, still with his arm around her shoulder, leaning her head against him.

"I was so certain you'd bolt," he confided in her after a while. "So afraid you'd leave and never look at me again." Hermione turned her face slightly and snuck closer.

"I would never do that," she said smiling, "You're stuck with me now." He responded by pulling her even closer.

"I wouldn't want it any other way."

***

When they walked up to the tower some hours later, Hermione had difficulties thinking that they'd only _really_ met the same day at breakfast and looking up at Remus' face she rather thought he was thinking the same.

Hermione kissed him softly at the cheek while they still were in the shadows of the portrait and when they entered he walked over to Sirius, James and Peter over by the window and Hermione joined Lily and the twins in their corner. Elena and Ayla seemed to have made peace and were now giggling as they hastily solved a moving crossword in one of their magazines. Lily glanced up from her charms book, smiling at Hermione. Feeling quite exhausted Hermione dropped into an armchair. She leaned her head against the plushiness of the red chair and her hand absentmindedly stroked a golden tassel at the side. It would be so good just to fall asleep right then and there.

_Sleep._

"So," Hermione heard Lily's voice saying, "What did you and Remus do all day?" Hermione opened one eye and gazed over at Lily. She had carefully closed her book and placed it on a nearby table and was now looking at Hermione with annoying intensity.

"Talked," Hermione said and purposefully closed her eyes again. From the sudden absence of scratching quills Hermione guessed the twins had either finished the puzzle or was listening in on them. _More the latter than the former_, Hermione thought.

"Lea," Lily said in a singsong voice and Hermione opened the one eye again.

"_What?_"

"Just talking?" she asked innocently, but with a determinedly mischievous glare in her green eyes and the slight giggles that erupted from somewhere to Hermione's left confirmed her suspicions of the twins.

"Yes," Hermione said and closed her eyes again. But the slight scruffy noises of moving clothes and shushed voices discussing, told her they didn't quite believe her. Hermione decided she couldn't care less, as she drifted into a slumber.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling. Everything you recognize belongs to her.

***

When she woke up the next morning Hermione wasn't quite sure _who_ had gotten her into her bed or _how_ they had done so. But she decided not to dwell on it as Laurel informed her that the first lesson of the year would start in exactly one and a half hours. Three quarters of an hour later Hermione and Laurel appeared in the Great Hall, grumpily eyeing the twin girls who had occupied the two showers their bathroom had granted them for well past half an hour. Lily, the lucky girl, had chirped a 'good morning' before heading off to a prefect's bath. _Damn that Head Girl_, Hermione though, _if I had been back in my time..._ Nonetheless Hermione slid into a seat next to Ayla and poured herself a bowl of cereal and milk.

The Headmaster had, through some odd sort of reasoning no doubt, brought the students to school on Thursday the 1st of September, given them the Friday off and scheduled the first day of classes to Monday the 5th of September. Not that anyone really minded.

Soon McGonagall drifted down the length of Gryffindor table handing out timetables. With an exited 'thank you' Hermione grasped the sheet of parchment. During the meeting with the Headmaster they had arranged her classes for the year. As originally planned in her own time, she would attend lessons in Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Ancient Runes, Herbology, Arithmancy, History of Magic, Astronomy and Defence Against the Dark Arts. She had dropped Divination during her third year and chosen not to continue with Muggle Studies in her fourth year. Care of Magical Creatures, however, she had attended until she finished her O.W.L.s, only choosing to leave when she entered her sixth year. Hermione wondered how her schedule had been arranged and was excited to find out which classes she was having that day.

Elena had looked up at the exited tone in her voice and was now looking at her with something akin to horror from across the table. She had accepted her timetable rather reluctantly, as if some part of her had rather hoped the holiday would be extended with another couple of days. Hermione, who couldn't quite understand this kind of thinking, even though she had spent years in the presence of Ron and Harry, only smiled brightly and waved the parchment excitedly. Elena huffed and proceeded to glare at her timetable, as if wishing it to burst into flames.

Hermione happily noted the classes for the day and, spooning up the last of her cereal, shouldered her bag and headed for class.

***

The school bell rang for the second time after lunch as Hermione, Laurel and Lily found their seats in the Defence Against the Dark Arts class. The class, being a N.E.W.T.s class, was made up of students from two houses. Hermione was used to this from her own time, but had learnt that her classmates in the past had spent their five first years only with their own house. In Hermione's year at Hogwarts they had only been forty students. In Lily's year there were over a hundred. Only since their sixth year, and their N.E.W.T.s schedule, had they found themselves in mixed classes. In DADA that meant Gryffindors with Slytherins. The professor of DADA was a tall witch with greying blond hair, dark blue eyes and a full mouth framed in tiny wrinkles. Laurel had informed Hermione that this was their seventh DADA-teacher in as many years. It seemed, much as in Hermione's own time, that the Defence Against the Dark Arts couldn't hold a teacher for much longer than a year.

Hermione had looked forward to this class since Lily had out-shined her in the previous Charms class. After Hermione's year of DA and a couple of years following Harry around battling dark wizards, she was pretty sure she would out-shine most of the ones present. Now she was desperately wishing the teacher would give them something practical and as more, something she _knew_.

The professor silenced the class, told them they'd be doing duelling with defensive shields as a mean for her to learn their progress and started pairing them up. Hermione cheered inside. She wasn't sure how good these people's shield charms were, but, thanks to Harry, hers were excellent!

Lily and Laurel were paired up and set off to a corner and Hermione turned to the person sitting behind her.

"Leandra Tawnee and Severus Snape," the Professor announced. Hermione's heart did a little flop. She'd be up against the professor of her own time. She didn't know much about the skills of his seventeen years old self, but in the future he was an outright _danger_ with a wand. Nonetheless she smiled brightly and stepped over to him. She didn't know what to expect from him in reply, but the snarl she received wasn't much like the boy who had escorted her to the Headmasters office the other day. Her smile faltered a little and she tried to remind herself of the man he would become as she positioned herself opposite him.

"We'll do _expelliarmus_ first, students," the Professor said loudly. Hermione nodded her head to indicate he start and saw him take his stand. His stood deadly calm with his wand pointed at her, ignoring the success and failure of the ones next to him. When he prepared to cast the spell he moved fast, but through Hermione's actual training in the Defence Against the Dark Arts she noted the slight change in his posture and was prepared. Striking her wand vertically in the air, from bottom to top, in front of her she generated a shield and easily deflected the curse. His dark eyes narrowed as he lowered the wand. Hermione tried not to smile smugly as she took her stand. She hurtled the spell at him quickly and watched him dispose of it. She had expected nothing less from him. They stood silently while the last of the students finished. Everyone had managed to deflect the well-known expelliarmus spell and Hermione was glad to see it. She turned her gaze to the pale, dark-haired man in front of her. She didn't know him, but she had known _of_ him for the past six years. In the future he was an excellent Potions brewer and although his method of teaching might seem harsh to some, it was efficient in its own way. During Hermione's sixth year, however, the dark man had become their Professor in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Hermione had feared what might come of it, knowing there had to be a reason Dumbledore hadn't given Snape the job earlier, but she had secretively looked forward to seeing how his method of teaching would be transferred to that subject. Not surprisingly, he was a harsh, unfair teacher, but he taught them things they had barely heard of before, things they definitively would benefit from, if they ever had to enter battle.

Hermione cleared her head and focused on her task as the professor put them through several nasty jinxes. Hermione wondered how she _dared_. The relationship between Gryffindor and Slytherin didn't seem to be much better here than in her own time, and with only one school year getting to know one another in class ... It did get rather nasty. The jinxes the professor assigned would, in an opportune scenario, leave the victim so confused that you could practically walk over to them and pluck their wand right out of their grasp. Both Hermione and Snape deflected each other's jinxes with progressively advancing shields, but as people began to be knocked out, Hermione found she had more time to do what she did best; think.

And what was on her mind now, was Snape. During her sixth year, Harry had depended heavily on a potions book filled with notes from someone who named 'the Half-Blood Prince'. Hermione, irked by being out-bested by a book, had done her research and by the end of the year she had discovered that the Half-Blood Prince was non other than Severus Snape, son of the full-blooded Eileen Prince and the Muggle-born Tobias Snape. But by then, this information was to little use, seeing as Snape had fled the school after the happenings at the top of one of the school towers. But more had happened during that year, much had taken place during the short time on that tower and many things had taken place during that following summer than Harry or Ron, or anyone else for that matter, knew anything of. Hermione shared that secret with few people, but Severus Snape happened to be one of them.

But Hermione had to brake of her train of thought as the professor assigned them progressively more demanding spells.

She put the class up against various _patrificus_ curses and, after deflecting the one from Snape with a vicious snap of her wand, Hermione saw Lily crumble backwards with a surprised look on her face. Laurel and Elana were already sitting in the chairs lined up against the wall, as was Remus and many others. She could still see James, the shape that so much resembled Harry's and Sirius among the standing.

Next were a wide variety of blasters, which sent almost the entire class sitting on the chairs. The only one's left were Hermione, Snape, James and a Slytherin Hermione didn't know.

When they faced the stunners next James managed to evade his opponents shield charm and sent her toppling to the ground. But when the professor woke her and she took her turn against James Hermione had the feeling that, although she broke his shield, he would have managed a lot better had he not been as smug as to try to deflect it with one if the minor charms. However, they had both been defeated, leaving only Hermione and Snape.

The professor beamed at them, assigning Gryffindor and Slytherin each fifteen points. But as neither she nor the onlookers felt the battle was over, she let them have somewhat more free reigns as to which spells to cast, thus giving them the opportunity of surprise. Hermione nodded his head at Snape, as she did every time they were assigned a spell and let him begin.

By now she was so familiar with his routine that she was sure she knew when he was about to cast the spell even before he did. So when a bolt of red hurtled towards her she had already whipped up a shield and deflected it out the window, sending a couple of students flying of their chairs. Now it was Hermione's turn. Thankfully Harry had drilled her in this sort of thing, so that when she now stood facing Snape with her wand out there was nothing in her stance telling of what she was going to do. And on the spot she decided to that there was no better time than now to begin with non-verbal spells. So when she flicked her wand next, not letting a single word escaping her lips, she saw his eyes widen slightly as his wand whipped upwards. But his shield was up too late and Hermione's simple disarming spell propelled Snape backward and Hermione stepped one step forward, deftly catching his wand in her hand.

The rest off the class applauded, Sirius and James with a tad to much enthusiasm Hermione thought, as Hermione was left standing in the centre of the classroom.

"Excellent," the Professor praised patting Hermione on the shoulder, "That's another fifteen points to Gryffindor Miss Tawnee." Hermione smiled gratefully and stepped over to Snape who was sitting on the floor leaning against the wall. She looked at him for a second, remembering a scene similar to this twenty years into the future and then held out her hand to him and after a moment of hesitation he grasped it, letting her help him up. She handed him his wand and he pocketed it without a word.

"I suggest you two take a quick trip up to the infirmary as we wrap up the class," the Professor said, "You look a bit exhausted, both of you." With a quick glance at each other they could tell she was right. Snape had blotches of red on his cheeks and sweat lining his forehead. From the warmth radiating from her cheeks Hermione guessed she was terribly flushed and she could feel her hair plastered to the nape of her neck. They both nodded and left the room. They walked side-by-side down the hall in silence.

But before they could turn the last corner, Snape stopped her with a hand on her arm. She turned to face him.

"That was really good magic," he said at last. Hermione beamed at him.

"Thanks. I though you were really good too!" He shrugged.

"I could be better," he admitted, "That non-verbal spell at the end really put me off." Hermione looked away.

"Yeah, about that, I feel like it was slightly un-fair. We had been doing verbal spells all the way up to that point and you weren't prepared for it and -" he broke her off.

"No, you were right to use it. One should use every advantage one has. It's my fault I wasn't prepared." He smiled at her, the first smile she had seen on his face the entire day.

"At least I won't get Black and his gang on my heels for hurting their new Gryffindor," he said with a sigh. Hermione shrugged and smiled and they continued down the hall and entered the Hospital Wing.

Upon seeing them, Madam Pomfrey shushed them into two beds and stomped off to her cabinet of medical supplies, muttering under her breath about un-responsible teachers. After a couple of spoons of potion each and their fifteen minutes of intent arguments, she hesitantly let them leave for dinner.

"You're quite all right for a Gryffindor," Snape said at last. Hermione quaffed and glared at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, they're pretty much a bunch of total sods the lot of them."

"What?"

"Yeah, but not you. You're all right," he repeated. Hermione stared at him incredulously.

"Well, then I should say you're pretty decent for a Slytherin," she said with a smirk. "I mean, you are pretty much a bunch of sad dolts, aren't you?" To her great surprise he nodded in agreement.

"We are, we are," he said.

"But not you," she said after a while, not looking at him. He stopped in his tracks and she turned to look at him.

"No?" Hermione smiled.

"Yeah, you're pretty all right with a wand and you take pity upon lost Gryffindor girls who get lost on their way to the Headmasters office."

"Well," he said with a sigh, "It's about the only chance there is." Hermione looked at him quizzically.

"I mean, after spending some more time with those lions, why would you want to hang out with a snake like me?" Hermione was put out by this sudden honesty. In her years at Hogwarts, she had only known one Slytherin well enough to call him by his first name and that friendship was one Harry and Ron were blissfully unaware of. But having this young version of her strict teacher walking beside her, in comfortable honesty, was not what Hermione had expected.

"Oh, I don't know," Hermione said as they started walking again. "No one seems to be quite up to your standard in duelling. And as I said, you're a pretty decent fellow." She glanced at him from the corner of her eye and was glad to see him smiling. They had now reached the huge set of doors that led into the Great Hall.

"You shouldn't be too surprised if this lioness wants to spend some time with a pretty decent serpent," Hermione said grinning, "No matter how long she's lived in the lions' den." She smiled and gave a wave as she headed over to the Gryffindor table.

A couple of minutes later she was sitting amongst her newfound Gryffindor friends and glanced up across the Hall to find him looking at her.

_Maybe I've got myself a Slytherin friend as well_, she thought with a smile.

***

The following Saturday Hermione had her first nightmare in the past. Horrible visions of Harry and Ron being tormented and killed flashed before her eyes, her well-guarded secret was revealed before it's time and her well-woven web of lies ruptured, wreaking havoc among her loved ones. And then she woke with a start, sitting up in her bed. Her breathing was ragged and her heart was pumping wildly in her chest.

Practically without thinking, Hermione got out of bed and hurried over to her trunk. After transfigurating some clothes, she left the room. She walked through the halls and down the stairs. When she arrived in the entrance hall, she stopped and began working her joints. She began with her hands and wrists, moving up to the elbows and shoulders, rotating clockwise and counter-clockwise, she worked through her neck, waist, hips, legs, knees, ankles and all the way down to her toes. Then she zipped up her jacket and slipped outside. She took a deep breath, looked around and began jogging towards the Quidditch Pitch, feeling all of her muscles warming up.

She stopped in the middle of the pitch, removed her outer jacket and began stretching. She spread her feet, making her stand steadily, interlocked her fingers and pushed her hands away from her chest, holding them as far out as she could, feeling the muscles stretch in her shoulders. She held this position for about half a minute before relaxing and then repeated the procedure a couple of times. She then placed her hands on her hips and bended slowly to one side, holding it and then to the other side, holding, working the muscles in her side. She continued to work through her body, with her neck, arms, chest, buttocks and down her legs.

Then she moved on to more dynamic stretches, like leg raises and swinging her arms, using the motions to gently force parts of her body past their usual range of motions, all the time being careful not to go to far and risking damaging herself seriously.

Hermione pulled out her wand and produced a small platform on the pitch, enabling her to use it in her training. With another flick of her wand, a rhythmic music appeared from nowhere and she stepped up onto the platform and down following the steady beat, varying with different steps to the sides and across, using her arms as well.

After some time, she vanquished the platform and the music and returned to doing light dynamic stretches until she felt her heart rate calming down and then doing the static stretches. She began with her legs, working her shins, calves and thighs and then working through the rest of her body.

She finished and walked back to the school. Instead of heading up the dormitory, she entered the prefects' bath, using the password Lily had given her and filled the bath with steaming hot water. When filled, she slipped into it, delighted to feel the hot water soothing her muscles. Her exercising had, as always, calmed her mind after the nightmare and now she found she could focus more clearly. She hadn't trained for a couple of weeks and she found that her body welcomed the training, as well as the acing of the muscles, in a way she hadn't felt for a while.

Her mind turned briefly to the nightmare, but she quickly cast it aside. While she found herself in the past, she could relax a bit. The lies she had been spinning during the last months of her sixth year weren't important for the time being. She needed a whole other set of lies and another façade, to make it here.

***

Dumbledore had arranged for a trip to Hogsmeade on the third Saturday in September, as a chance for the students to enjoy the sun. Hermione was going with Lily and Laurel and Ayla and Elena jokingly called them the three L's. A week ago Hermione might have had a hard chance catching up with the joke, but by now her new name, Leandra, was firmly imprinted in her.

As Lily and Hermione both were muggle-born and Laurel half-blood, they decided to dress muggle for the day. After the first couple of days in the past, Hermione had decided to unpack the trunk Dumbledore had arranged for her and had found several seventies-style muggle clothes. So now she was standing impatiently by the door wearing a long-sleeved, pale cream blouse and a pair of bell-bottom denim jeans, with a bright purple bandana to hold her hair back.

Laurel wore a simple wrap dress, basic white elegantly decorated with splashes of colour. She was standing next to Hermione by the door, impatiently tapping her nails against the wooden frame.

At last Lily came tumbling out of the bathroom. She was wearing a green halter neck top and a pair of un-zipped Hi-Rise pants.

"Laurel, help," she said and dropped down on her back on her bed. Laurel sighed and handed Hermione her purse. She stepped over to Lily and managed, after some effort, to zip close the tight pants she was wearing.

"Why do always have to wear those?" Laurel asked Lily as they made their way down the stairs.

"I like them," Lily said, not noticing, or possibly ignoring, Laurel as she rolled her eyes dramatically.

When the three of them left the relative warmth of the Castle, they draped black cloaks around their shoulders and walked down the road to Hogsmeade.

Once in Hogsmeade they drifted from shop to shop before eventually ending up in the Three Broomsticks. Here Hermione was awarded with a young Rosmerta, probably just out of Hogwarts, helping her mother with the serving. Hermione grinned as she saw, or rather heard, the sparkling high-heeled shoes.

Hermione, Lily and Laurel brought their butterbeers to a round table and draped the cloaks around the back of their chairs. During the next half hour the pub filled up with Hogwarts students and the noise-level increased alarmingly. So by the time the four boys known as the Marauders arrived in the doorway, there was barely place enough for them to enter. Remus waved at Hermione and pressed his way over to her.

"Hi," he said, slightly out of breath, "Would you mind if we joined you?" He glanced at the three of them. Laurel and Lily shrugged in agreement and Hermione smiled.

"You're welcome to join us, Remus." He smiled appreciatively and waved his three friends over. Hermione had spent some time with Remus, but hadn't really met the three others, except for the brief meeting with Sirius in the infirmary and seeing them in the classes she shared with them. Remus slid into the seat next to Hermione and grinned in thanks at James as he plonked a butterbeer down in front of him.

"Hi," James smiled as he sat down. Lily smiled weakly. He was Head Boy to her Head Girl and Ayla and Elana had informed Hermione that he had been trying to get her to date him since the beginning of their fifth year. Lily had turned him down every time.

But nonetheless the rest of the day passed without any sour moments and the boys accompanied the girls back up to Hogwarts. Back up in the Common Room Lily pulled James into a corner to discuss something Head Boy/Head Girl related, Laurel fished out a book and seated herself in a chair by the window and Hermione dropped down in a couch next to Remus, with Sirius and Peter in chairs opposite them. Hermione had been unsure of how to treat Peter when he first appeared, the knowledge of him being to one to cause the deaths of Lily and James strong in her mind, but he turned out to be an all right fellow, even though he seemed to be slightly nervous. Hermione wasn't sure which side he was on at the moment and decided to grant him the benefit of the doubt.

Soon James appeared and summoned his chessboard and -pieces and set it up on a round table between him and Remus. As the game progressed Hermione finally understood how much she had learned from Ron after loosing against him for six years and eventually began giving tips to both of the opponents. After a heated final round involving a heroic knight and a pair of foolish towers, Remus toppled James's king.

"Next time," James said, grinning at Hermione, "You're restrictively on my team." Hermione agreed with a laugh, before biding the boys' goodnight and climbing the stairs to the dormitory.

***

Soon Hermione discovered she had made herself a certain routine in her classes. Since she , for obvious reasons, couldn't spend her N.E.W.T.s lessons partnered with Ron or Harry, she had made substitutes of her newfound friends.

Hermione, ever the over-achiever, had nine subjects a week - and was also planning to take the N.E.W.T.'s in Muggle Studies.

But she had made her priorities and did the most advanced courses in only four subjects. In Charms, one lesson on Monday and two on Tuesday, she worked with Lily and Laurel, in Transfiguration on Thursdays and Fridays she sat with Laurel and Elana, seeing as neither Lily or Ayla had proceeded with the subject to N.E.W.T.'s level. In Defence she partnered with Severus whenever she could. And she and Severus sat with Lily and Laurel in Potions. Ayla had been rather spiffed that first lesson when they agreed on seating arrangements seeing as both Lily and Severus - who had worked together the past year - had outstanding results in the subject.

In the remaining four subjects she didn't have that many lessons a week. Not being a very prioritised class among the students, Remus was actually the only other Gryffindor she had gotten to know reasonably well who took Arithmancy, they always sat together in that class. Lily and Ayla also took Runes, so that was no problem, and in Astrology she was paired with Elena. In Herbology she was partnered with Severus again, with Laurel and Ayl stepping in as the second pair whenever they worked in quadruples.

The ninth subject was History of Magic, which she only had once a week. The class was relatively small and she and Lily where the only Gryffindor representatives for the seventh years N.E.W.T.'s course.

Severus (Hermione wasn't quite sure when she had began referring to him as Severus and not Snape), she knew, was slightly annoyed whenever she spent time with the Marauders and James and Sirius seemed annoyed whenever she spent time with Severus. And whenever one of the parties was out of earshot she'd hear it from the other.

But Hermione enjoyed Severus's company and arranged meeting with him in the library, which neither James nor Sirius voluntarily entered. She enjoyed his clever arguments and grew to like the sarcasm and the biting comments that would remain with his future self. He was very smart and they could sit for hours discussing everything from Potions and DADA, to literature and politics. Her trust in the dark-haired Slytherin grew and she hoped he had grown to trust her as well.

She had also grown to be good friends with Sirius and James. They reminded her strongly of the Weasley-twins in their ability to entertain and humour and their discard for the rules was uncannily similar to Ron and Harry. But she also found some qualities in them that she would have described as downright _Slytherin_. They had no qualms about hexing people for the weakest of reasons, but Hermione thankfully saw the responsibilities of James being Head Boy bringing this down to a minimum. Sirius, his respect in her abilities increasing after he watched her duel Severus in their first Defence Against the Dark Arts class, became overly protective of her after an incident one evening.

Hermione had been in the library, studying, when a couple of the elder Slytherins had approached her. They had been nasty, throwing comments at her about her muggle heritage, which Hermione hadn't thought to, or bothered to, hide from anyone and made snide remarks, about how she was a new student to the school and how she didn't deserve to be here. At first Hermione had ignored them, but they wouldn't stop and began snatching her books away from her and spilt ink all over her essays. Standing tall, with her chin high, Hermione had spelled her belongings out of their hands and hastily left the library. But only a couple of minutes walk away, she slumped against the wall, crying heartily. She had thought people were beyond picking on people, but she had forgotten that she was in another Hogwarts. She was not in the Hogwarts where she had proven herself best for the past six years, despite her heritage. She was no longer the best friend of one of the most famous wizards in the world, nor did she have a tall redhead by her side, ready to jump at anyone's throats for offending her.

She slid down against the wall and her head fell into her arms and she cried. She cried for all the things she had had, the things she feared she would never find again. Unless the Headmaster could think of a way to send her back, she wouldn't see Harry or Ron for twenty years. And two decades was far too long a time to stay away from the two boys she cared so much about.

"Leandra?" Hermione suddenly hear someone whisper and she looked up through tear-blurred eyes. A dark shaped moved towards her and she blinked to clear her eyes. Sirius was kneeling in front of her, looking worried.

"What's wrong?" He asked and Hermione felt stupid. She was over eighteen years old and she was sitting in an abandoned hall, crying her eyes out because some heartless boys called her names.

But then the dark-haired boy hugged her tight and cradled her against him and she wept into his shirt, telling him everything. And when her tears had dried, he picked up her book bag and walked her up to the Common Room, only leaving her side when the stairs to the girl dormitories wouldn't allow him further. Hermione went to bed and fell asleep.

And at breakfast the following morning she heard the tale of how Sirius Black had earned himself two weeks of detention for hexing three Slytherin seventh years.

From that day, Sirius was like a brother to her.

She had also begun helping Remus with tutoring Peter. She helped tutor him in charms and History of Magic, but although he was a nice boy, there was an unnerving quality to him. He desperately seeked power and what he could not achieve himself he sought in his friends. This wasn't a quality Hermione favoured in Peter, as she strongly believed it to be some of the reason for his joining with Voldemort.

Her friendship with Remus had also grown strong. He had surprised himself when he had confided to her that he was a werewolf and she had surprised him even more for her handling of it. He trusted her and was therefore more tolerant of her friendly relationship with Severus. The relationship between Remus and Hermione was one different from the one Hermione had with Ron or Harry. She, Harry and Ron were yearlong friends, opposite to Hermione and Remus only knowing each other for a couple of weeks. And Hermione would sit with Remus doing her homework as she would with Ron and Harry, but Hermione never considered leaning her head against Ron or Harry's thigh while reading her book, something she often did while she was sitting with Remus. He'd be sitting in one end of the sofa and she'd be lying with her head propped up against his thigh. They'd be reading the same book, perhaps gong through the theory of some Transfigurations assignment, asking each other questions. While she was sitting with Ron and Harry, however, they'd be sneaking glances at her work and eventually she'd begun arguing with Ron, quarrelling as though they were brother and sister, or husband and wife. She rather preferred the differences in the two relationships. They made a clear separation between what she now thought of as her two lives. Hermione and Leandra.

Hermione remembered clearly one happening between herself and Remus, un-like any happening between herself and Ron or Harry.

It had been a late Tuesday night. They had been sitting up late finishing some homework and when finished, they had remained in the Common Room talking. Hermione was lying in the couch with her head in Remus's lap and was almost asleep when the bell chimed three o'clock. She had sat up half-heartedly and Remus had risen from his seat and was standing in front of her. He held out his hand to her and she had grasped it letting him pull her up. She had stumbled and fallen against his chest and he had laughed softly and grasped her upper arms to steady her. She had gazed up at him and he had looked at her. Their eyes locked. And before they knew it she had stretched up on her toes and he had bent his head down and their lips met. Her arms went around his neck and his circled her waist. The kiss had been good, it really had, but suddenly the two of them had started to giggle and broke apart. Their soft giggling turned to full-out laughing and they fell down on the ground, their arms still about each other, her on top of him. They had gazed into each other's eyes again and he had stroked a stray tendril of hair of her face.

"That went - well," he whispered, with a crooked smile. She giggled.

"Maybe we're best off friends?" she asked and saw his eyes twinkling in agreement.

"So, _friend_," he said, "maybe we should head off to bed?" she nodded and, with a slight giggle, kissed him on the nose. She had lifted herself up and helped him up. He had draped his arm about her shoulder and they walked towards the two sets of stairs. Then he had kissed the top of her head and sent her up the stairs with a soft goodnight.

But instead of making them uncomfortable in each other's presence, this had strengthened their bond. Sometimes they would appear to all eyes to be a couple in love, flirting and playing games, sometimes they'd be best friends, laughing and talking and sometimes they'd be brother and sister, quarrelling and arguing good-naturedly. And it worked out perfectly.

The deal between Hermione and Severus, however, was of a different matter. He intrigued her, made her feel like she never had before. A tingling sensation would run up and down her body whenever he touched her and when he leaned over to whisper in her ear, like he often did in class, his hair would brush against her, his breath would be warm against her skin and a tremble would run down her spine. But being Hermione it took some time before she connected these feelings with anything. It was only after a Potions lesson paired with Severus, as usual, that she had begun the wonder. Was it so that she was falling in love with the teenage-version of her feared Potions Master?


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling. Everything you recognize belongs to her.

***

Hermione was sitting behind her stack of books as James and Sirius came bounding down the stairs. They were swinging their brooms around in their excitement and almost knocked sever of the younger students of their seats. They eagerly made their way over to where Hermione was sitting.

"Hi Lea," James said and dropped into a seat with a vicious-looking swing of his top-of-the-line broom. Sirius leaped into the chair on the other side of Hermione.

"What?"

"Want to come flying with us?" Sirius asked.

"I don't really fly," Hermione said and paused her writing to read the paragraph about The Draught of Living Death in the potions book she had borrowed from the library.

"What? Don't really fly?"

"Mhm," Hermione said and dipped her quill into the ink. "I was never any good at it." As she returned the quill to the parchment she missed the exchange of looks between the two boys. Without her noticing they eased out their wands and quickly banished all her things up to her dormitory.

"What did you do that for?" Hermione asked as she tried to pluck her quill and parchment back out of the air before they disappeared. The two boys grasped an arm each and gently guided her back to her seat.

"You're going flying with us."

"Whether you want to or not."

Hermione looked between the two of them and felt herself resign at the determination she saw.

"All right. But I don't have a broom."

"You'll borrow one from the school," James said with a grin.

"Come on," Sirius said, "it'll be fun!"

"Sure," Hermione mumbled and allowed herself to be guided out of the school and down to the pitch. James cast a heating charm on her cloak to keep out the cold and an impervious to shield her from the light drizzle of rain.

During the next couple of hours they had her on a broom alone while they guided her, but also had her sitting with one of them as they did dangerous and thrilling manoeuvres high above the ground. By the time they headed back in Hermione was more comfortable on a broom, than she had been in her entire life - not that that was saying much. And James and Sirius swore they saw potential and promised to bring her out flying every once in a while.

"You two will be the death of me," Hermione said with a laugh.

***

November arrived with autumn rain pelting down. Hard. Soon two of the greenhouses almost flooded and wards had to be put up. The magic, though keeping the water out, made it impossible to teach there. So Herbology for the fifth years and up was cancelled for the time being and Hermione now had free time before lunch on Mondays, as well as before dinner on Thursdays.

It was a Friday evening, Hermione had donned a pair of hipster flair trousers and a white bell shirt and was about to leave the common room. But before she could leave, she saw something amazing. Sitting in a couch in front of the fireplace with marshmallows and long sticks were Lily and James. _And Lily was laughing at one of James's jokes!_ Hermione shared an eyebrow-lifted glance with Laurel. _So there is hope for the existence of Harry_, she thought with a smile as she swung the portrait open and left.

She had agreed with Severus to meet outside the Room of Requirement, although he did not know it yet. She had told him to meet her by the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, who was foolishly attempting to teach trolls to dance ballet. It was on the same floor as the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room, so it didn't take long for her to get there. He greeted her with a smile and, smiling in return, Hermione paced back and forth in the hall. After her third passing a door appeared in the wall. Severus looked impressed and tugged at the handle as if to confirm it was real. The door swung open and Hermione stepped in, Severus following her. The room was decorated in soft greens and reds, _Slytherin and Gryffindor neutral_, Hermione thought and furnished with a couch in front of a fireplace radiating warmth. One wall was lined with bookshelves and one kept a window overlooking the lake.

Hermione dropped into the couch with a sigh, happily noting a silver platter piled with roastable treats and a mug of hot chocolate. Severus dropped down next to her. He picked up two long sticks, much like the ones Hermione had seen Lily and James use, back in the Common Room and handed one to her.

They slipped easily into conversation and tipped the sticks with treats from the pile in front of them. Soon Hermione was leaning against Severus and his arm was draped around her. By now their hands and faces were sticky with sugar and chocolate and laughter ran freely. It was when Hermione was standing on her knees in the couch leaning against Severus, laughingly trying to rid his hair of the molten sweet, that she suddenly realised how close their faces were. Her laughter died on her lips as she felt his breath warm and chocolaty against her face. She gazed into his dark eyes and leaned towards him. With a slight dip of her head she captured his lips with hers and her hands slid down to rest on his shoulders. She felt him respond to her kiss, lean up towards her, hands trailing down her waist. But then suddenly he broke it off. Hermione gazed dazedly at him. There was a new look in his eyes and he pushed her gently back so that she was sitting. She lifted her hand to brush his hair to side, but he grasped it in his own.

"Leandra," he whispered and it took some time before Hermione realised he meant her. "I - I can't -" he didn't seem able to voice what he was thinking, but the look on his face made Hermione's lower lip tremble. She bit it, not wanting her emotions to get the better of her.

"Leandra," he said again, "I,"

"Oh," Hermione said, "Oh, I see," she broke off, looking away. "I'll- I'll just go then." Without looking at him Hermione stood up and hurriedly walked towards the door, feeling as if she was walking in a dream. A bad dream.

"Leandra!" He called, "Wait," But Hermione was already out the door. She moved quickly down the hall, tears threatening to spill over. _She had been so sure. _So_ sure there was something there_. She balled her hands into fists and jogged down the stairs. Her cheeks were soaked in tears and she tasted blood from the bite in her lip. Remembering the man she had feared for six years, she had been hesitant around him. But soon the young man had passed her defences and become one of her best friends in this past. He was her friend, even though he would mock the Gryffindors, even though he ignored her whenever he was scribbling notes into his Potions book, even though his friends seemed to think her below them.

"Leandra!" His call echoed down the halls and she realised Severus was calling for her to stop. Instead of obliging, she broke into a run and was soon down the marble stairs and out the door. The heavy rain pounded against her and her thin shirt was soon soaking wet. She didn't know where she was going or what she was going to do, when suddenly a pair of strong hands grasped her arms, swivelling her around. It was Severus.

"Leandra," he said softly, "stop." Her tears were now pouring freely, mingling with the heavy rain. She hit him on the arm, begging her to let her go, but it only made him hold on to her more firmly.

"Leandra," he said again, stepping closer to her, brushing her wet hair out of her face. "You don't know," he broke off. "You don't know who I am, you don't want to be with someone like me. I'm a bad Slytherin, remember?" He smiled jokingly at her.

"You don't know what I want!" Hermione yelled, "So don't tell me what I should do and don't tell me what I should feel!" He was holding her firmly by the shoulders, looking down into her face.

"What _do _you want?"

"I want you," she said defiantly.

"I'm not good for you,"

"I don't care! What do want me to do? Do want me to forget all about you? Do you want me to elope with Sirius, or Remus? Do you want me out of your life?"

"No, I don't want you out of my life," he said, "I,"

"Then why won't you," she broke off, gasping for air. "Then why won't you love me?"

"I," he let go of her shoulders and stepped back. "You don't know what you're asking of me. You don't know what they want of me!"

"What do they want of you? Who?" Hermione asked stepping over to him.

"He's recruiting. He has infiltrated the Slytherin house. He'll come after me." He looked deep into her eyes; she did not need to ask who 'he' was.

"I don't care," she said harshly. "You'll resist him, you're not like the rest."

"You don't know what he's capable of, Leandra."

"Then I don't care!" Hermione yelled. He put his hand against her face.

"That's what I'm afraid of."

"Why won't you let me love you?"

"You don't love me."

"Yes I do," she whispered looking into his eyes. She brought her arms up around his neck and leaned against him, still gazing into his eyes. "Let me love you." Stretching up on her toes she brought her mouth to his for the second time.

"Leandra," he whispered against her lips, "He'll come after you."

"I don't care." He looked deeply into her eyes.

"I care. I don't want to see you hurt. I,"

"Do you love me?"

"Yes."

"That's all I need to know." She laced her fingers into his wet hair and brought his face down to hers. She kissed him hungrily and he kissed her back, the rain pelting down on them.

***

It was now two weeks since that rainy day, when Hermione had stumbled into the Gryffindor Common Room, soaking wet, with a blissful grin plastered across her face. Elana and Ayla could still be seen discussing behind their hands, giggling madly, sending Hermione meaningful _looks_. And whenever Hermione disappeared to meet Severus, though she claimed to be going to the library, Laurel would raise her eyebrows professionally and an annoyingly _knowing_ smile would tug at the corners of her mouth. Lily, surprisingly enough, remained totally unaware of the situation. She had been found asleep in the Common Room one morning, gently cuddled in the arms of James Potter, by a bunch of second years. So naturally the whole school knew by lunch. The Head Boy and Girl. He had asked her out every chance he got since fifth year and she had shot him down every time. And now they suddenly were _friends_?

Ayla and Elana seemed suspiciously pleased with themselves every time James and Lily were seen together and informed Hermione that this new turn of events was all in credit to them and a successfully delivered love spell. Hermione secretly doubted this and when she confided in Laurel she learned that the new friendship had blossomed when an unaware house elf had locked the two in the prefects meeting room one night.

Hermione's meetings with Severus were the happiest times of the week. They would for the most time sit in the Room of Requirement studying or talking, some times taking breaks to sneak down to the kitchens for food. One memorable afternoon Hermione had been walking along a hallway on her way back from the library, when she heard a soft _accio_ and found herself sailing across the floor, spreading books along the way and ending up in Severus' arms. Tumbling into a nearby broom cupboard, they didn't return until a good quarter of an hour later, lips red and blushing. Hermione was fumbling with the buttons of her shirt (half of them had _accidentally_ popped open during their escapade) while Severus flicked his wand, making her books jump into a neat heap. He then stepped over to her, helping her put her buttons straight. He smiled and tugged at the neck of her shirt, revealing a red mark on her skin. Blushing pink Hermione tugged the fabric out of his hands, before whipping out her wand and summoning her books to her arms.

"Here, let me take those," Severus said and shifted them out of her arms and into his own. They walked side by side up to the entrance to the Gryffindor Tower. Hermione took her books back and while holding them in one arm she leaned close to Severus, pressing her lips to his. He held her close by the waist for a second and then let her go. She smiled at him, gently biting her lip.

"I'll see you in class tomorrow, then," she said. He nodded and, with a gentle tug at one of Hermione's bushy curls, walked down the hall. Just before he turned the corner he gave her a wave and then he disappeared out of view. Hermione told the password to the highly amused portrait and entered the Common Room.

Once inside she banished the books up to her dormitory and dropped down on a couch. Remus, Sirius and Peter were on the floor, happily engaged in a game of Exploding Snap. Neither Lily nor James could be seen, Hermione noted with a grin. After a particularly loud bang Remus excused himself from the game and stepped over to join Hermione on the couch.

He was halfway into one of the many stories concerning Sirius's and James's escapades during the past summer, when Lily and James came barging in through the Portrait Hole. Lily slid down on the couch next to Hermione and James dropped to the floor. They were both blushing ferociously. They refused to answer any of the questions hurled at them, but when the Portrait slammed open a second time, both their flushed faces dropped into their hands. Elana came running toward the couch Hermione shared with Remus and Lily, her face barely managing to contain the enormous grin plastered on it.

Leaning down towards Hermione, she whispered audibly: "Lily and James were _snogging_ in the Charms Corridor!"

Heads all over the common room swivelled towards the offended pair so fast and co-ordinated that it looked as though they had been mass-jinxed.

The visible parts of Lily and James's faces blushed deep scarlet. Hermione bit her lip, fighting not to burst out laughing. But then she chanced a glance at Remus and a giggle leaped from her lips. He had slid from the couch and was now sitting on the floor. He had his fist firmly pressed against his mouth. Hermione clamped her hand over her mouth to silence her laughter. _It would be inappropriate_, she told herself, _to laugh at the pair_. But it didn't help. Soon she had dropped to the ground next to Remus, desperately shaking with laughter. Lily had lifted her face from her hands for a second to glare at her friend, but more and more people joined in. Sirius was positively barking with laughter, trying to support Peter, who was whooping loudly behind his hand. Remus was slapping James's shoulder, receiving a mortified glare from the black-haired boy. Matters only became worse for him, as Lily suddenly broke out in a fit of giggles, soon accompanied by Elena and the newly arrived Ayla and Laurel.

The boy who reminded Hermione so much of Harry in appearance rose to his feet, ears still red with embarrassment. He strode purposefully towards the giggling heap that was Lily. He touched her shoulder gently and when she looked up at him he swooped down and planted his lips on hers. Lily's eyes widened, but then she relaxed and wound her hands up around his neck.

The Common Room silenced immediately.

Hermione leaned towards Remus, observing the two. By now they seemed oblivious to the on-lookers, completely blissful with only themselves. _Four years from now_, Hermione thought sadly, _they'll be dead and Harry orphaned. And there's nothing I can do to stop it_.

Suddenly she felt Remus tugging at the neckline of her shirt. And she could positively _hear_ the grin in his voice as he leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"More people that James and Lily have engaged in some lip-locking recently," he said, pressing a cold finger against the red hickey on Hermione's skin.

***

Hermione was sitting in the Great Hall, finished with her dinner and was observing the people around her. She let her gaze follow the circle of friends and she felt her heart leap, as she once again thought of their future. She had in her the power to change it, but she knew that if she did, it could make matters even worse.

She looked at James and Lily, who were sitting close to each other. In less than three years Harry would be born and a little over a year following that they'd die and Harry would be orphaned.

Sirius, she though, looking at the handsome dark haired boy, would die at the hand of his cousin, after twelve years behind bars. A punishment for a crime he would never commit.

Peter would be the one to betray them, he would sell them to the dark lord, he would live with the Weasley's for years and then he'd help bring back the dark lord.

And Remus. He'd be the only one left. Loosing all his friends and leading a life being shunned by everyone.

The lives of these people would soon be torn apart. And there was nothing Hermione could do to stop it.

Then she turned her eye on Laurel, Elana and Ayla. Maybe they would live? Maybe she could find them when she returned to her own time. _If_ she returned ...

Tearing her eyes away from the group of Gryffindors, her eyes sought Severus. He was sitting at the opposite end of the room, shovelling food around his plate with a silver knife. Where would he be in twenty years? What would be left of the boy she loved so deeply? All the things she loved about him would diminish, leaving only a hard shell. And he would be forced to commit an act so terrible, that the side of good would believe him second only to Voldemort in evil. Hermione involuntarily shuddered. Except for herself and a handful of others, every living man and woman in the wizarding world, including Severus, in her own time, believed that Severus killed Headmaster Dumbledore. But more happened on that fateful night in the beginning of June than most people knew. Indeed, Hermione had even kept it hidden from those closest to her.

And although Severus' life would be spared, the Dark Lord would rob him of many things. _What made him join the Death Eaters in the first place,_ Hermione wondered? But she remembered their word of weeks previous:

_"He's recruiting. He has infiltrated the Slytherin house. He'll come after me."_

_"I don't care! You'll resist him, you're not like the rest."_

_"You don't know what he's capable of, Leandra."_

But Hermione certainly knew his capability. He was ruthless in his hunt of Harry and for years Hermione had been pulled into a battle no one knew the extent of.

It wasn't something you would want to tell your dentist parents when you came home from school.


	6. Chapter 6

In late November, the seventh year class of Defence Against the Dark arts were preparing for an excursion, of sorts, into the Forbidden Forest. They would be brought to various locations within the forest and would proceed to battle their way through a series of magical traps and the exercises. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs had completed their task two days previous, leaving the groups of forty or so Gryffindors and Slytherins. Everyone was dressed warmly in winters clothes under a thick cloak and carried in a bag several elements to use in completion of their task. As a tribute to Dumbledore, the centaurs yearly strengthened their protection of the forest as the seventh years entered. This ensured they were kept safe from unforeseen intrusion during the test.

Hermione was standing with the rest of the students, close to the border of the forest. Her bag rested at her feet and she was hugging her arms close to keep the November chill away. Their Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor was facing them, eyeing each and every student, seemingly weighing their chances in the forest. Exhaling a foggy breath, she reached into her pocket and extracted a roll of parchment.

"Before I begin," The Professor said loudly, "I'll take the time reminding you that the wards over the premises will prevent you from apparating. It is true," she said, breaking of a student's response, "that Apparation and Disapparating may aid you in similar circumstances. But in this test we, the rest of the faculty and myself, have decided to eliminate that factor.

"Now, you will be sorted into pairs," she said, stretching the parchment out in front of her.

"Ackerly and Cressida," she read and looked out on the group, "That means you, Ayla." Ayla grinned and joined Dean Ackerly, a fellow Gryffindor. With a reassuring nod from the professor they turned towards the forest and soon disappeared from view.

"Avery and Cressida," were the next up and Hermione noted the blond girl seemed more terrified of her Slytherin companion than of the Forest ahead of her.

"Ayre and Doherty. Black and Evans." Hermione grinned at Lily and Sirius sighed happily, giving James a thump on the back.

"Relax, I'll keep an eye on your girl!" With a wide grin he joined Lily and soon vanished into the forest. James didn't look relaxed at all.

Several more names were called, until "Johnson" was paired with "Loudwater", and "Lupin" with "Malcom". Both were partnered with a Slytherin. Laurel with Lewis Johnson, tall and fair with pale blue eyes, and Remus with Elsie Malcom, a pretty girl with a devious mind, high ambitions and a quick mouth. A true Slytherin.

James was paired with Annie Summers, a Gryffindor, before Hermione's name was called. "Pritchard and Tawnee. Hermione brushed past Severus, grasping his hand lightly as she passed and joined George Pritchard. A house elf met them with a bow as they reached the edge of the forest, and beaconed for them to follow. They entered a left-side path and were soon immersed in dense wood. The small elf smoothly avoided low branches and cleverly overcame objects in the path by using simple house elf magic. The Slytherin soon forgot his wicked ways, as Sirius so amusingly would have put it and was soon helping Hermione past obstacles and accepted her help in return. After what seemed like hours of stumbling through the woods, the three of them appeared in a small clearing, supporting one wall of cracked mountainside and three sides of dense forest. Hermione could hardly see the path they had used. The house elf bowed again and disappeared with a crack. Hermione and Pritchard were left in the middle of nowhere, soon to be facing unknown dangers.

The professor had said to be prepared at sundown, so the two of them used the time they suspected they had left to explore the small clearing. There were several cracks in the mountain wall and Hermione suspected some of them to lead to deeper caves. There were also several natural shelves trailing up the side and their eyes instinctively sought out the easiest route to climb.

After that they just sank down on the ground, leaning against the stone. Severus, Hermione thought, was probably paired with Elanor Watson or Megan Wilson, both Gryffindors. The pairings had been alphabetical, though by gender, allowing for one boy and one girl in each pair and Severus and the two girls were all at the bottom, alphabet-wise. Severus did well in DADA, so she wasn't overly worries. Hermione wasn't worried about Lily or Sirius either. Though she had the feeling Lily would be on the brink of madness trying to deal with Sirius, although he did well when it came to the practical. Ayla and James would do well with their Gryffindor partners and Remus and Laurel could deal with their Slytherin partners ... She only hoped Elana could deal with hers. Thomas Avery had a certain knack for getting on Elana's nerves and she hoped they'd get through the night without hexing each other into oblivion.

Suddenly a beam of red light cut through the dense wood. It gleamed brightly for a couple of minutes before fading, leaving the forest even darker then before.

"Sundown," Pritchard whispered, "Here we go." Climbing to her feet, Hermione extracted her wand from her sleeve and held it protectively in front of her. Everything was unnervingly silent.

"What's that?" Hermione turned quizzically towards Pritchard, who pointed silently over Hermione's shoulder, into the forest to their right. She turned around slowly, dreading what she might see. It was certainly not what she had expected. Red lights were blinking in a nearby tree, quite similar to muggle Christmas lights. Hermione stepped towards them.

"Clabberts," she whispered incredulously.

"A flashing red light when they sense approaching danger," Pritchard added. Hermione glanced at him, a smile tugged at her mouth.

"Danger, here we come," she said and when she saw the look on his face, she realised living with Harry and Ron had affected her more than she'd thought.

"Let's go."

*

Some time later the two of them were sitting with their backs up against two trees, breathing heavily. When they first entered the gloom forest they had stumbled upon a spell patch, just after avoiding a pair of hinkypunks in a bog and had a hard time deflecting the spells woven into the wood. Hermione had been hit by a nasty cutting hex and supported two parallel cuts on each upper arm. George, on the other hand, had been blasted into a tree full of bowtruckles and was only able to escape with both eyes intact after Hermione quickly flung a handful of edible treats on the rabid creatures. After that they ran into a small flock of scorpion-looking creatures Hermione was sure Hagrid would have favoured. The clabberts kept flashing red, leading the two of them on their way. And the tasks became progressively more difficult.

They had now just traversed a steep path inlaid with magical booby traps and felt desperately out of breath. A quarter of an hour had passed when they noticed the lack of blinking lights.

"I sure we came the right way," Hermione said, "We passed those triple-layered jinxes just over there." George nodded in agreement.

"I know, but the clabberts have always shown us the way and I don't think this trip is quite over yet." Hermione had to agree with that. With a resigned sigh she wandered from tree to tree, scanning the high branches for red lights. Suddenly she stepped on something slippery and with a small scream she was sent hurtling to the ground. With a groan she pushed herself up in a sitting position.

Then she saw the clabberts.

The bodies of four or five monkey-like creatures with green skin where scattered on the ground. Their webbed hands and feet had been separated from their bodies and there was blood everywhere. _The slippery substance_, Hermione thought. George appeared behind her and she could hear his shocked response.

"What happened to them?" He asked as he helped Hermione to her feet.

"I don't know," she said, feeling her voice tremble, "But I'm betting it wasn't part of the plan." In her head Hermione was reliving all the dreadful things she had experienced in this forest and desperately hoped Aragog's lair was far from her present position.

Hermione and George were standing a few feet away from the slaughtered clabberts, trying to figure out what to do, when suddenly they heard a voice coming from the shadows.

"Little human children, all alone," it said. George flicked his wand out in front of him and sent a beam of bright light into the bushes.

"Now that wasn't very nice," the voice said mockingly, now from the other side. Turning around Hermione brought her wand to the chest of a dark haired woman, leaning against a tree observing them. Her naked body was barely covered by her long hair, loosely wrapped around her body.

"Are you going to hurt me, little girl?"

"Who are you?" George asked.

"She's not a who, she's a what!" Hermione interrupted vehemently.

The woman's pale eyes flicked over to rest on Hermione and she smiled, revealing pointed teeth.

"She's a Lamia," Hermione spat, "an Eastern European demon." The demon made a cooing sound, but did not move.

"Pretty little girl, so much you know," she said mockingly. "But, oh, so little."

"Why are you here? Your kind isn't known for travelling." The demon raised one dark eyebrow and moved away from the support of the tree.

"I have been summoned," she said simply, taking a step towards the two of them. Hermione brought her wand to the demon's face.

"Don't come any closer!" Hermione threatened.

"Do you really think you can stop me?" With a wave of one hand the demon sent George hurtling into a tree and grasped Hermione's wand with the other.

"Silly little girl," she hissed, standing right in front of Hermione, "you cannot stop me." She brought an icy hand to Hermione's cheek and looked deeply into her eyes. Hermione saw her eyes widen.

"You don't belong here," the demon whispered incredulously. "How did you get here?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're from another time," the demon said matter-of-factly, letting her fingers wander across Hermione's face. One hand came to a halt, firmly grasping her ear. The demon leaned closer, observing the object fastened to the lobe. It was a silver earring decorated with one deep grey pearl. With a smile she unfastened it and held it in the air. With an approving nod she brought the fairly blunt end of the earring to the flesh of her own earlobe and forcefully pressed it through. Blood seeped from the fresh wound, staining the silver and the pearl red. The demon turned Hermione's head over and removed the second earring. Again she brought the blunt metal to flesh and pierced. With a content sigh she turned her attention back to Hermione. She raised her hand to touch Hermione's cheek, but this time Hermione wrenched backwards. With a flash of anger in her pale eyes the demon slapped Hermione forcefully, sending her to the ground. Hermione tasted blood and brought a hand to her mouth. Her lip had cracked. She looked up at the demon. She had blood on her hand and was watching it, fascinated. She brought her hand to her mouth and a dark tongue lapped up the blood. With a satisfied smirk she dropped Hermione's wand to the ground, stepped over the carcasses of the clabberts and slipped into the shadows. Suddenly she stopped.

"Listen," she said and Hermione did. For a second everything was silent and then she heard it. A dull thudding sounded through the forest.

"They are coming," the demon said and turned back to the shadows.

"Who?" Hermione asked, but the demon only smiled and was lost in the shadows.

Hermione dried up the trail of blood on her chin with one hand and grasped the discarded wand with the other. She whispered the illumination spell and thoroughly investigated the piece of forest the demon had disappeared through. Hermione didn't see a trace of it.

The dull thudding sound intensified and Hermione scrambled over to George, still slumping unconscious against the tree, blood staining parts of his brown hair.

Voicing the reviving spell Hermione waved her wand in the air over George's still body. A tremble ran through his limbs and his eyes fluttered open.

"The demon," he groaned.

"Gone," Hermione whispered, helping him up. "It left."

"It just left?" he asked, looking at her. Hermione nodded. George stood up straight and pushed his fringe out of his eyes.

"What is that?" he asked suddenly.

"What?

"That thudding sound."

"I don't know," Hermione said honestly. "The demon said; 'they are coming'." George looked at her, worry clear in his eyes.

"We have to go," he said, grasping her by the arm and pulling her along. Instinctively they turned away from the thudding sound, but every time they thought they had out-run it, it returned with renewed intensity. They were getting more and more distressed and wandered aimlessly around in the dark forest. It was growing colder by the minute and their breaths were fogging from their mouths.

"The end of the forest!" George cried and pointed ahead. Hermione could see the trees coming to an end and gathered her remaining energy for one last plunge. But when they broke through the last line of trees, they found themselves looking out on a huge overhanging cliff. Dreading what she'd see Hermione walked over to the edge. Far below, the waters of the lake were lapping a vertical wall of stone. The cliff continued upwards on their right side and on the left they could see the Forbidden Forest spilling out. They couldn't reach the castle by land, as the impassable ragged cliff walls towered from the water, all the way to the castle, where they plunged down to the beech. The only way seemed to be by water. But it was a long way down and chances were they would hit stone before they hit water. And even though they managed to get into the water, Hermione knew their chance of reaching the castle in this state was very small.

"We have to go back," she said.

"We can't," George whispered. Hermione's response died on her lips when she turned around.

Through the shadows of the forest many bright eyes could be seen, ranging from clear yellow, through bright orange to deep red.

"What are they?" she asked, voice trembling.

"I don't know," George said.

"Can you apparate out of here?"

"No. Sorry. Retaking the test during Christmas. Besides, they've got wards up."

"Yeah." She couldn't risk side-along apparating with George, not with the possibility of the wards still being up. _We have to jump_, she thought. She shrugged her now empty bag of her shoulders.

"George," she whispered, "Enlarge your bag." His eyes darted from the watching eyes in the shadows to her. She held up her own enlarged bag.

"We have to jump from the cliff," she said, "And the bags will keep us in the air a bit longer. We have to stay out of the water as long as possible." He nodded in agreement and enlarged the bag. He stepped over to her and they looked down at the water. Hermione looked over her shoulder.

"They're coming closer," she said. She grasped the bag securely in both hands.

"On three," George said, "One."

"Two." She briefly considered trying to apparate, but dismissed the idea. She was not going to leave George alone!

"Three!" They leaped from the edge of the cliff. Hermione felt herself plummeting towards the dark waters for a second, before the bag filled with air and slowed the fall down. Her arms were aching from the yank of the bag, but it kept her in the air. George was a bit further down to her right, but as long as they were both gliding more horizontally than vertically, Hermione was pleased. She felt a strain in her shoulders and the bands of the bag were digging into her hands. Hogwarts appeared out of the darkness and as they circled around a tongue of land Hermione saw that the grounds were filled with people and lights. _At least they figured something went wrong_, she thought.

Then she suddenly felt a tug and she was hurtled downwards. She looked up and saw a tear across the bag. The material strained for a moment before bursting, flapping about madly in the air as she fell. She vaguely heard George calling her name.

Then she hit the water.

Everything went black for a second and she didn't feel anything. Then, as though somebody had opened the shutters, she felt as though a thousand needles were piercing her skin. The water was so cold her body became confused, making her feel as though she was being boiled. The fabric of the enlarged bags were like chains on her hands and she couldn't tell which way was up and which was down. Suddenly her head breached the surface of the water and she gasped for air. Kicking her legs to keep herself surfaced, she fumbled with the fabric and got her hands free.

She looked around. In the air she had been able to see around, but now she saw nothing but the dark waters of the lake. She looked up. George was nowhere to be seen.

Hermione had a difficult time extracting her wand from the sleeve of her soaking wet robe, but eventually got it out.

"Point me," she whispered and the wand spun around in her palm. It stopped pointing somewhere to her left.

"Damn it," Hermione muttered, "I don't know which direction the castle is in." But she decided north was a good an indication as anything and started swimming in the general direction the tip of her wand had been pointing.

She would take occasional stops to check on the direction. She had tried producing hot air or water from her wand, but soon discovered she didn't have the energy. She swam blindly into the night, not knowing where she would end up. She was close to giving up when her fist sank into soft sand. Blinking she looked up and saw the muddy bank and beyond, the thousand lights of Hogwarts, still blazing into the night. Hermione rested a bit on the bank, before staggering to her feet. She half crawled up the sloping hill, moving towards the illuminated castle. She could vaguely hear someone calling out. Calling her name. A pair of strong arms grasped her and she looked up into Remus' face.

"Remus," she whispered. Shivering with cold she leaned into his warmth. He was shaking with relief, holding her close, rubbing her back. With a sigh she collapsed in his arms and he lifted her up and carried her into the castle. In a daze she saw faces and places fly past her and then everything became white.


	7. Chapter 7

Hermione opened her eyes and looked around. She was lying in a bed in the Hospital Wing. She tipped her head to the side and saw Remus sitting in a chair, watching her.

"You're awake," he whispered and smiled. She returned the smile and turned over on her side. She let one arm slip from the warmth of her bed and grasped his hand in her own.

"Have you seen George?" she asked.

"Pritchard?"

"Yeah."

"I have. He came gliding in with an overgrown bag. The Headmaster whisked him off almost immediately, but he let me stay by the lake so that I could keep looking for you." Remus pressed her hand reassuringly. He let his other hand slide through her hair.

"What happened?" he asked. Hermione bit her lip.

"We went through the beginning of the task, following the clabberts, " Hermione said. We had just traversed a booby trap path when we saw the clabberts had been slaughtered." She could hear Remus gasp.

"What happened?"

"I guess she killed them. It killed them."

"Who?"

"The demon." Hermione looked into Remus' eyes. "She looked like the eastern-European Lamia demon, and she didn't contradict me when I called her by that name. I'm not sure what she was doing here at all - they don't travel much, hey usually just stick to a few distant villages, controlling them through terror and whatever magic they have at their disposal. But she - it - said it had been summoned. I - I - I don't know. She _knew_ things about me. Looked into my eyes, and told me things I haven't told _anyone_." Hermione shivered, and reached for her earlobe. The pearl earrings were still missing. "Well, it left, and I woke George up. We heard a sound - did you hear it?" Remus nodded. "Well, we just ran for it, and then we appeared on a cliff and in the forest behind us where these _eyes_. So we jumped. I mean, it wouldn't be too far from Hogwarts, I was sure, but my bag tore, and I fell."

Hermione shifted over to one side of the bed and pulled Remus down next to her. She cuddled close to him.

"How's everyone else?" she asked.

"Ayla, Elana, Lily, Laurel and Sirius were in the opposite side of the forest, so they didn't know anything had happened until they came out. And both James and I got the heck out of there when we heard that drumming sound." He paused. Then he opened his mouth as if to speak, but closed it again.

"Remus," Hermione said, "What about Severus?"

"Leandra ..."

"Did something happen to him?"

"We ... Leandra ... We don't know, he hasn't come back yet," Remus said. Hermione hoisted herself up on her elbows.

"What?"

"He was grouped with Megan Wilson and Joe Woolf, there being an odd number of us going into the woods. They both got back, some time after the rest of us, looking a right mess. They said Severus had disappeared. Everyone else is back."

Hermione was battling to keep her tears in check.

"You mean Severus is the only one left out there?"

"Everyone's out looking for him," Remus said, "Dumbledore called in Aurors after he talked to Pritchard. They're in there right now, looking for him." Hermione dropped back down on the bed and rolled close to Remus. He wrapped his arms closely around her.

"I ... I just don't want to loose him, Remus," Hermione said, tears beginning to soak Remus's shirt. "I don't know what to do."

*

Later the same day Hermione was sent out of the infirmary and was heading down to dinner. She had just stepped off the marble staircase when she realised she wasn't hungry. She started to turn back, but caught eye of the entrance doors. She frowned and walked towards them. She pushed them open and peeked through the gap. It was dark outside, but the grounds were bathed in the soft light from hundreds of windows. The Forbidden Forest loomed black in the distance. Suddenly a speck of black moved. Hermione fixed her eyes on it and watched it make its way across the grounds. She made to close the doors, but hesitated. Then it passed into a patch of light.

"Severus!" Hermione slipped through the doors and ran down the lawn in front of the castle. She came to a halt in front of Severus and he collapsed against her, dragging them both down to the ground.

"Leandra," he whispered.

"Where have you been?" Hermione asked, "What happened?" He grasped her hand, dropped something into in and closed it.

"What?"

"I was told to give this to you," he whispered. He rolled over on his back and rested his head in Hermione's lap.

"We have to get you into the castle," Hermione said, "you need to see Madam Pomfrey." He mumbled led something incoherently in response. Hermione shifted his head out of her lap and stood up. She found her wand inside a deep pocket and levitated him up in the air. With him floating in her wake she strode back up to the castle. She pushed the doors forcefully open and headed straight for the Hospital Wing.

She barged through the doors and placed Severus gently on one of the beds. She stroked his hair gently out of his face and leaned down to kiss him on the lips. Then she stood up straight and looked around. The only student in the Infirmary was Megan, who was lying in a bed behind a curtain, but a couple of exhausted Aurors were sleeping in the other end.

Hermione headed straight for Madam Pomfrey's office. The school nurse looked terribly offended when Hermione barged in, but when the situation had been explained she quickly brushed past Hermione and soon reached Severus's bed.

"Is he alright?" Hermione asked, gazing intently on Madam Pomfrey. The witch was frowning, waving her wand over the unconscious boy.

"Go get the Headmaster," the nurse said.

"What?"

"Go get Professor Dumbledore. He's in the Great Hall," she said, looking into Hermione's eyes, "Go!" Hermione nodded, feeling dumbfounded, spun around and ran out the door. She paused for a second outside the doors to the Great Hall to compose herself and then slipped neatly into the enormous room. She walked purposefully down the wide aisle between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables and came to a halt in front of the Headmaster. He looked up from his plate of chops and gazed at her.

"Madam Pomfrey sent me," Hermione said quietly, "Severus has returned from the forest." She could see several emotions flash in the clear blue eyes of the old man in front of her. He rose from his chair immediately and signalled for the four Heads of Houses to follow him. When he rounded the table he grasped Hermione by the shoulder and looked deeply into her eyes.

"Don't worry, Ms Granger," he said, so quiet that only the two of them heard. "You sit down and eat your dinner and I'll take care of Mr. Snape."

"What? But I ..."

"Sit down and eat your dinner, Miss Tawnee," Dumbledore said more forcefully and nudged her in the general direction of the Gryffindor table. Then he proceeded down the Hall, flanked by the four Heads. Feeling confused Hermione stumbled towards the Gryffindor table. Remus flagged her in and placed her in a seat next to him.

"What happened?" He asked when she had settled down. She leaned against him and put her mouth to his ear.

"Severus is back," she whispered. He sneaked on arm around her and hugged her closely. Hermione leaned into him, completely unaware of the students in the Hall, who all wondered what could bring the Heads and the Headmaster out of dinner.

It was then she suddenly realised her left fist was still firmly clenched together. She opened it slowly. Resting gently against her skin was a silver and pearl earring. She folded her fingers back over it and closed her eyes.

_"I was told to give this to you,"_

Ever so slowly Hermione brought the piece of jewellery to her earlobe, slipped it through and fastened the back piece. The other ear was bare. The other piece was pierced through the flesh of a demon.

_Oh God_, Hermione though.

*

The next day Hermione raced to the infirmary to see Severus. But when she got there, the doors where closed and bolted. She knocked and soon a figure was seen approaching, blurry through the frosted glass. The metallic sound of a lock being opened and then a sliver of Madam Pomfrey's face could be seen.

"Miss Tawnee," the nurse said.

"Can I come in?" Hermione asked, "I want to see Severus, I ..."

"Nobody is allowed in the infirmary today," the nurse said firmly and made to close the door.

"But Madame Pomfrey, I really need to know if he's alright ..."

"The health of Mr. Snape and the other patients is my business and mine alone. You can see Mr. Snape when I release him." The door closed before Hermione could say another word.

"But I just want to know if he's alright," Hermione whispered, leaning against the door.

She didn't know how long she had been standing like that, when a hand suddenly landed on her shoulder. Hermione turned slowly around, to find Laurel standing behind her.

"Hermione," she whispered, "What are doing here? Why weren't you at breakfast?"

"I - I wasn't hungry," Hermione said quietly.

"Rubbish," Laurel said lightly and hooked her arm around Hermione's. "Now we'll go down to the kitchens and get you some proper food."

Hermione half-heartedly protested, but let herself be led by the dark-skinned girl. Not long after they reached a still painting of a bowl of fruit and Laurel reached out to tickle the pear. With a squeamish giggle it transformed into a handle and Laurel opened the painting, letting Hermione go in first. Upon reaching the kitchens, three house-elves made their way over to them and bowed. The rest of the kitchen was busy with the cleaning up after breakfast.

"Some toast and tea, please," Laurel said and guided Hermione over to the kitchen-copy of the Gryffindor table. She seated herself on the opposite side and fixed her eyes straight on Hermione.

"So," the girl said, "What was that about?"

"What was what about?"

"_You_. Standing outside the infirmary, looking, for the entire world to see, like a lost puppy.

"I - Well, Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let me in."

"Why were you going to the infirmary? Are you feeling ill?" Laurel reached over the table and grasped Hermione's hand.

"No," Hermione said, "I just - I wanted to see someone."

"Right," Laurel said. "So he's back then, that's a relief." Hermione looked at Laurel, looking mildly suspicious.

"Lea," Laurel said with a smile, "I'm not blinded by love like Lily is, or by foolish misconceptions like Sirius is. I can tell you're in love and I'm sure Remus sees it to! And if Ayla and Elana weren't so busy trying to set you up with Michael Frittlewood, they'd see it too!"

"Is it that obvious?" Hermione asked, wide-eyed with worry.

"No," Laurel said soothingly, patting Hermione's hand. "Only to us. Why is it such a big deal anyway? Don't you want people to know?"

"I do," Hermione admitted, "But I - I'm afraid what - what the guys would think. Sirius in particular." Her eyes dropped to the small elf that had just approached their table. Slowly her eyes followed the plate of toast the elf placed on the table.

"Severus is a nice guy," Laurel said, letting go of Hermione's hand and grasping a buttered toast, "and they'll see that eventually." Hermione nodded absentmindedly and spooned some sugar into her tea.

"Ayla and Elana really tried to set me up with Michael Frittlewood?" she asked suddenly, looking at Larurel.

"They did," Laurel said, laughing, "But before he could do anything Remus had sent Sirius after him. Didn't you ever wonder why he spent those days in the hospital wing?"

"No! What happened?"

"As far as the rumours go," Laurel said with twinkling eyes, "Sirius hexed Michaels pillow, which resulted in him waking up the next morning with a rather - provocative - image on his face, made out of variously coloured pimples."

"He didn't!"

"He did!"

"Only because Ayla and Elana had convinced him to ask me out?"

"Mhm," Laurel said, sipping her tea, "Remus and Sirius both agreed to get rid of him. You're to good for him, they say."

Hermione smiled and shook her head.

"What happened to your earring?"

Hermione looked up. Laurel was pointing at her right ear.

"Oh, I guess I lost it in the forest," Hermione lied.

"It's a shame," Laurel said, "I always did like that pair on you." Hermione mumbled something incoherently in response and grabbed another piece of toast.

"So, where's everyone else?" she asked, changing the subject.

*

By the end of the day Hermione had knocked on the infirmary door twelve times and Madame Pomfrey had sent her away every time. And now she was lying in her bed imagining all the terrible things that cold have happened to Severus in the forest and what terrible pains the demon had inflicted upon him.

Hermione's logical reasoning told her that the demon had to have kept Severus back for a reason and wondered which reason that could be. And what did the return of one of her earrings mean?

Hermione pictured terribly damages and painful wounds and thought that Madam Pomfrey kept her out of the infirmary so that Hermione wouldn't know; perhaps they had decided not to worry Hermione until they had figured out a cure, or at least exactly what was wrong. If that was their plan, Hermione thought, it was most certainly a bad one. She was more worried now, than she imagined she could ever have been if she had been allowed in to see him. But then she wondered if Severus had asked that she be kept out? What if he didn't want to see her anymore? What if he thought that whatever had happened in the forest was Hermione's fault, seeing as the demon had asked, or rather commanded, Severus to return the earring. With this new and very frightening, scenario in mind Hermione lay awake in her bed several hours into the night before succumbing to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

The next day Hermione slept through breakfast and was rudely awakened in time for lunch. She let herself be led down to the Great Hall by Sirius and Remus and seated herself between them. She hurriedly poured herself a steaming cup of coffee and felt decidedly more cheery after finishing it. She was trying to pay attention to the conversation Remus and Sirius was keeping with the newly arrived James and Lily, when suddenly a hush went through the room. Hermione looked up and almost froze in her seat. The stories concerning Severus's stay in the forest were many and now he was standing by the doors to the Great Hall, capturing the eyes of everyone present. His eyes were sweeping the room. They landed on the Gryffindor table and trailed up and down its length. Hermione feared what he would do when he spotted her. Would he just look past her and go sit at the Slytherin table? Would she see hatred in his eyes?

But then his eyes landed on her and a smile tugged the corner of his mouth. And without even giving a thought to the fact that the student population of the entire school was seated in the Great Hall watching, Hermione rose from her seat and ran towards him, smiling widely. When she reached him he opened his arms in welcome and she jumped into them and he lifted her up, twirling them both around. And when he put her back down, she let her fingers slide against the side of his face. Then she wound her arms behind his neck and she stood up on her toes and with a smile kissed him squarely on the mouth.

A unison gasp ran through the hall. A Slytherin and a Gryffindor _kissing_?

Hermione had a direct view of the Gryffindor table over Severus's shoulder. As she had dreaded, there was uproar. Lily had bound James to his seat and was smiling at Hermione, twirling two wands. Remus was desperately trying to calm Sirius, who was red in the face with anger.

Hermione felt a tug of grief in her chest, but turned her attention back to Severus.

"Are you all right?" she asked. "Are you hungry?"

He smiled and placed a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'm fine. Why don't we head up to the Room of Requirement," he said. "There's a lot I need to tell you." She smiled at him and grasped his hand in hers. With a wave and a smile, she left the Hall with Severus.

*

After a couple of hours in the Room of Requirement, Severus had mostly explained the events in the forest.

He, Megan and Joe had decided to head back some time after the drumming had begun, as they saw red sparks in the sky. But before they had gotten very far the demon appeared and the two other had only barely managed to get away after Severus gave them a diversion in form of a Confounding Charm. The demon had been angered by that move and had blasted Severus fifteen feet into the air with a snap of her fingers. After that she had broken into parts of his mind and that way she had learned of his connection with Hermione. With a cruel smile she had said that she would spare his life this one time and for one reason.

The demon had then informed him of her intentions.

_What is the point of making a statement_, it had said, _when no one understand it?_

It had woven a tale about a demon fleeing from her native country. The demon told of having to live of the souls and flesh of mere birds and simple wild animals. And nect of an ambitious young man, with the powers to change the world, who had sent it back to its own land where now people quivered at its feet. And he had promised the demon glory and power beyond its wildest dreams, if it would stand with him in his rage against the wizarding world.

And now the demon was making her way to its old friend. And it would be the greatest ally he would ever know. And after their victory, it would bathe in the blood of humans.

Then it removed one earring from her ear and gave it to Severus.

_Give this to the girl_, it had commanded, _make sure she understands. We are connected now, the two of us and we will meet again. She has a great mind, a great understanding of things. She could be powerful. _

_Unlike you wizards_, it spat_, I don't care about blood status. You tell her, that if she comes to me, we could be great. If she chooses to oppose me, however, we'll face the end soon._

_Which end? _Severus had asked.

_Her end_, the demon had said with a smirk, _or mine. But do you really think a little human girl can stand against the powers of a demon?_

Then, with a laugh, it had sent Severus running blindly through the dark Forest, with its fire-eyed beasts fresh on his trail. And they didn't cease their hunt until Severus had reached the open grounds of Hogwarts, where Hermione had found him.

*

When Hermione came up to the common room later she felt decidedly better. After Severus had told of his experience with the demon, Hermione had told of what had happened with herself and George in the forest.

She climbed through the portrait hole and smiled gratefully as she felt the heat of the room flow over her.

She walked over to the group of chairs occupied by the Marauders and Lily. Hermione smiled brightly as she approached them.

But as she made to sit down, Sirius stood abruptly, threw her a nasty look and marched up to the boys' dormitory. James, ignoring Lily's protests, glared at Hermione and followed Sirius, with Peter at his heels.

Feeling shocked Hermione dropped into one of the vacant chairs.

She had forgotten about the boys. They loathed Severus and had now seemingly shifted some of that hate onto her.

She felt a terrible wrenching in her heart. Remus was looking thoroughly uncomfortable, while Lily seemed to be seething with anger.

"I'll be in bed," Hermione mumbled and quickly left.

*

She woke early the following day and wandered down to the nearly empty Hall for breakfast. She sat alone for a long time, shovelling her food around on the plate. Then a bark-like laugh caught her attention and she turned to face the doors leading into the hall. The Marauders entered, James energetically waving his hands in the air, the others laughing. Hermione bit her lip and she watched them completely ignore her and seat themselves at the furthest end of the Gryffindor table. A desperate hope fluttered in her heart like a butterfly and she thought that perhaps they hadn't seen her. But then Remus looked up from his plate and gazed at her with sorrowful eyes and gave a slight shake of the head. Hermione's heart sunk. With a sigh she picked up her book bag and left the Hall.

She entered the empty Charms classroom and found her usual seat. Automatically she placed the book on the table, along with a sheet of parchment, a quill and a pot of ink for notes, before dropping the bag to the floor and tilting it so that it leaned securely against the side of the desk. She pulled her wand from one of the deep pockets of the robe and placed it gently on the table.

After some time people appeared and took their usual seats. Soon Lily and Leandra came and, after sharing worried glances, they seated themselves next to Hermione. Just as the bell rang, the Marauders sauntered into the class and, without a glance in Hermione's direction, found their usual seats. It took until Flitwick had finished his introduction of the day's subject for Remus to return her looks.

Hermione shared classes with the boys the entire day but avoided them all, even Severus. He had questioned this at the beginning of the lesson, but Hermione had brushed him off saying she'd tell him later.

The reason was simple: she didn't want the guys to get ever angrier with her. Sirius and James had been making fun of her the entire day, acting more like Malfoy then Harry and Ron and it made her feel terrible.

So when dinner had ended, she retreated to her dormitory, intending to read a book, but instead ending up in the darkness of her own bed, hidden behind deep red curtains, crying heartily.

*

The next day started a little better, she spent time with Remus in Runes and History. And to her great relief he told her he wasn't angry with her. But Sirius, he told, was far more upset than she could have guessed.

And everything brightened even further when James cornered her after Aritmancy the following day, begging for her to forgive him for being mad with her. And though she suspected Lily had been involved in this, Hermione's response had been to break down in tears and almost violently hug him.

On Thursday evening Peter came with a stuttering apology, which Hermione had been glad to accept.

But Sirius had not ceased his attacks. Every opportunity he got, he would harass her or Severus, doing silly impressions of them and being generally nasty. When James told him off for calling her names in Transfiguration Sirius had dragged him out in the hall and the whole class could hear their argument through the wooden door. _She's dating _Snivellus_! _Sirius would say, _a Slytherin! She knows we hate him; she's doing it on purpose! How could she ever have been our friend?_ And Hermione wanted to cry; she could feel the tears burning. And when the two boys returned to the classroom, Hermione turned her face away, wiping the away the moisture circling her eyes.

After lunch they had potions. And the professor assigned them a difficult potion, making Hermione feel all excited and eager to get to work. But just as she had diced up some mandrake roots, added them to the pale pink potion and turned the heat down, something happened. The professor approached her desk, smelled the fumes from her potion and sounded an approving _hmmm_. Hermione was clearing away some leftover mandrake when she noticed a bottle of pumpkin juice standing on the edge of her desk. _How had that gotten there?_ She never brought food or drink to a lesson. Hermione stole a glance at the professor, who was still looking at her potion. He had a wooden ladle in his hand and had scooped up some of the potion, letting it flow back down into the cauldron, checking its colour against the light. But as the potion was stirred, the pink seemed to shine with a certain orange hue and Hermione realised too late what had happened.

With a high-pitched wail the fluid rose from the cauldron like a jet of fire. The professor was sent skidding across the floor and the fountain of orange-coloured potion descended upon the nearby table of Ravenclaws with a hiss.

The Ravenclaws uttered screams of horror and leaped away from their desks. Even as they staggered away the potion made itself apparent through blotches of pink appearing on their exposed skin. And as they watched the pink turned to red, before starting to swell.

"To the Hospital Wing," the Professor barked and they fled. With gleaming eyes the professor turned to Hermione. He grasped the bottle of pumpkin juice from her desk.

"What have I said about food and drink entering this classroom?" Hermione cowered in her chair.

"It's not…" Hermione began and glanced out on the others in the classroom. She caught a glance of a smirking face in the shadows. _Sirius._ He wasn't even supposed to be here, he had a free period now. He was looking terribly satisfied with himself and Hermione knew that if she told the professor where Sirius was she could avoid detention. But even though Sirius was mad with her, even though he had caused her potion to react like it had, he was her friend and Hermione couldn't do it to him.

"I'm sorry, professor," Hermione mumbled and turned her gaze to the ground.

"Detention, tonight at six o'clock sharp," the professor said. "Now, you better go to the infirmary."

Hermione gave him a confused look and he stared pointedly at her arms. Looking down Hermione noticed with a shock she had been hit by the potion as well. Her arms, from wrist to elbow, were red and swelling. She gingerly tried to get her equipment back into the bag, but Severus broke her off.

"I'll do it," he said softly, "now go." Nodding in thanks, Hermione left the classroom.

Hermione managed to release the sleeves of her robes from the spell she had used in class and they rolled down to cover her arms. The fabric felt rough against her stressed skin.

She was barely watching where she was going when suddenly something banged against her shins and she crashed to the ground, arms outstretched protectively in front of her. She stifled a cry of pain as her arms where grinded against the stone floor. She heard a distinct giggle to her left, but didn't bother to investigate. She struggled to get up and cradled her arms to her front.

A couple of minutes later she arrived at the infirmary and found Madame Pomfrey engaged in rubbing salves into inflamed skin. The Ravenclaws sent a couple of angry glares in her direction and Hermione dropped into a chair.

"I'll come to you once I've finished up these ones, dear," Madame Pomfrey said as she hustled from student to student.

It took time for Madame Pomfrey to finish up the others and all the while Hermione sat in the chair, moving her arms around, trying to find the most comfortable position to place them in. There didn't seem to be one.

When the last of the Raveclaws had been sent out with a bottle of salve, the nurse called for Hermione and had her sit on one of the beds. Then she gently grasped Hermione's chin and turned her face to the side so she could get a good look at it.

"Nothing on your face then," she said.

"No, it's my arms," Hermione said flatly.

The nurse gently grasped one of Hermione's arms and lifted it up. She took hold of the edge of the sleeve and rolled it pack as if she was peeling a banana. Hermione could hear the nurse gasp and turned to look.

The sleeve of her robe was soaked in blood and her arm was looking terrible, skin gleaming red and rasped open.

"This is worse that the others," Madame Pomfrey said, "why didn't you say."

"I only slipped and fell," Hermione said meekly, "I didn't think it was this bad."

The nurse tutted and drew her wand from a pocket. A mumbled spell sent a blue light from the tip and Madam Pomfrey drew the wand over Hermione's arm a couple of times. She saw no noticeable difference. The nurse continued to rub a strong scented salve onto Hermione's arm and finished by weaving a bandage around it. With a shake of the head and a sigh, she did the same on the other arm.

"Now, make sure you come down here tomorrow right after breakfast, so I can change the bandages," the nurse said, "and no pressure on the skin." Hermione nodded and left

When Hermione entered the Common Room she found it empty. Everyone else had gone down to dinner. With a sigh, weather it was of sorrow or gratitude Hermione really didn't know and continued up to the girls' dormitories. She headed straight for the bathroom. She unceremoniously let the robe drop to the ground. She lifted her arms up in front of her and saw that the crisp white colour had been blotched with red blood from the robe. Another sigh and she rifled through the pockets of the discarded robe. Returning victorious with her wand, Hermione cleaned the bandages and created a clear film of something similar to plastic to cover her arms. It sprouted from the tip of her wand and fell over her arms like water, covering the elbow and sliding between her fingers for good grip. Pleased with her work she let the wand drop on top of the bloodied robe and removed the rest of her clothes.

Next she stepped into the shower and turned it full on. The water pounced on her, drumming deliciously against her skin, beating away the stress of the day. She rubbed shampoo into her scalp with some difficulty, the bandages pressing against her wrist and the spell woven across the skin around her fingers made it a little difficult to flex her hands. A good half an hour later she stepped out of the shower. She picked up her wand and banished her clothes into a laundry basket for the elves to clean. Back into the dorm she chose a long sleeved sweater to cover her arms, along with a simple school skirt and stockings. She pulled a freshly laundered robe over her head, quickly manoeuvred her thick and curly hair into two braids and tripped down into the Common Room.

Laurel looked up from her seat in front of the fire.

"Hi. You missed dinner."

"That's all right, I'll just get something in the kitchen before my detention," Hermione said.

"I left your book bag in the dormitory."

"I noticed, thanks."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Hermione said, stretching her arms gently. "Madame Pomfrey wrapped me up in some bandages to keep the skin from getting irritated." _Not lying, just not telling it all._ She smiled. "I should get going."

"Alright, see you later!"


	9. Chapter 9

Ten minutes to six Hermione was sitting in the hall outside the potions classroom eating a sandwich. She entered at the exactly at six.

The Potions Master looked up from his papers and acknowledged her presence.

"You're to grind the scarabs and store them in jars."

Hermione nodded and walked over to the indicated desk. A barrel of scarab beetles were standing on the ground, a mortar and pestle was standing on the desk and the desk next to it was filled with small jars. With an inaudible sigh Hermione scooped up beetles and began to grind.

It didn't take long before she felt it in her wrists. This sort of monotone grinding was bound to affect you eventually, but her wounded skin was continuously bent and twisted as she used her bodyweight to manoeuvre the mortar and pestle properly. After some time, Hermione found she had trouble screwing the lids of the jars tight. Her fingers kept fumbling with the lid, muscles refusing to work with her.

After a good five minutes of fumbling Hermione had the last lid securely screwed on its jar and she turned to the professor. He was still busy with his paperwork.

"Professor," she said and he looked up at her.

"You've finished? Good. Now you can pour that pomegranate juice into flasks." The professor turned back to his papers and Hermione turned to face the back of the classroom. Several huge bowls of vividly coloured juice and loads of small vials lined the desks at the furthest end of the room. With a sigh Hermione got to work.

Another couple of hours of shaking hands later Hermione stood in front of the professor's desk. Her hands were stained from the pomegranate juice, but the vials were filled. He looked her over.

"You're dismissed," he said.

"Thank you Professor," Hermione said and quickly fled the room.

Her wrists were still sore when she stepped through the portrait hole some time later, but a spot of magic had removed every trace of sticky pomegranate juice from her hands. She flexed her left hand gently, but quickly stopped as a jolt of pain surged from elbow to fingertip. She looked around in the Common Room. The fire was roaring happily in the hearth, but she couldn't see anyone. So she ventured a little further into the room and she suddenly caught eye of a head resting on a sofa, the rest of the body hidden from view. Another couple of steps into the room told her that it was Sirius. Biting her lip Hermione moved even closer.

"Sirius?" The boy jumped a little and then turned towards her.

"Oh, _you_," he said.

"Sirius, can't we talk?"

"We have nothing to talk about," he spat and rose. After a nasty glare in her direction he sprinted up the stairs to the boys' dormitories.

With a wrenching sob Hermione dropped into the vacant couch. She tried to stifle it, but the sorrow overwhelmed her. She dropped her head into her hands and cried.

But suddenly she heard a noise and looked up. Sirius was standing at the foot of the stairs, looking at her with an unreadable expression.

"I ... um ... I forgot my book," he said, indication a blue volume at the floor next to the couch.

He walked tentatively towards it. Hermione decided she couldn't face him in this condition and hurriedly brushed past him. But a hand grasped her wrist and, stifling a moan of pain, Hermione was pulled back towards Sirius.

"Don't cry," he whispered. Hermione looked away.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I never meant for it to go this far." Hermione looked up at him. He released the grip on her wrist and brought his hands to her face. Gently grasping her face he brushed her tears away with his thumbs.

"I don't like him," he continued, "he's not good for you."

"You're blinded by ancient grudge, Sirius," Hermione said. "He loathes you as much as you loath him, but he didn't try to stop me from being friends with you." Sirius looked away, a flush of shame creeping up his face.

"I love you guys," Hermione said with a tremble to her voice, "but I'm in love with him."

"But he's a Slytherin," Sirius said vehemently.

"And you're a Black," Hermione whispered, "should I judge you by that?" Sirius looked at her.

"I'm sorry, Leandra" he said at last.

"That's alright," Hermione said.

"Make no mistakes," Sirius said, "I still don't like the guy and I think you could get someone better, but I want to be your friend."

"I want to be your friend as well, Sirius," Hermione said with a giggle. Sirius smiled and brought her to him for a hug.

"And I'm _really_ sorry about the pumpkin juice in your potion," he said as the parted and looked at her with puppy dog eyes. "I know you saw me, why didn't you tell?"

"Friends don't tell," Hermione said softly. "Besides, Madame Pomfrey fixed my arms."

"Fixed your arms?" Sirius looked at her quizzically.

"Yeah, didn't you know? I got hit by the potion as well." Sirius looked at her, then lifted up her left arm and rolled away the lower part of her sleeve. She could hear his sudden intake of breath and glanced down at her arm. A red band of blood had seeped through the bandages just around her wrist, where she had been flexing it during her detention.

"It's alright," Hermione said, "It doesn't hurt that much anymore."

"B-but," Sirius started stuttering, "I talked with Dean Ackerly and Monica Ladly after dinner and they didn't have any bandages and they certainly didn't bleed! All Madame Pomfrey did was give them was an ointment." Hermione smiled reassuringly.

"I fell on my way to the infirmary," she said, "I rubbed my skin open against the stone."

"Oh no," Sirius said, looking guilty, "I tripped you. I was under James' invisibility cloak. I slipped out from the classroom with the Ravenclaws. When I saw you coming I couldn't resist. I'm really, _really_ sorry!" Hermione patted him in the arm.

"You'll pay me back later," she said in a soothing voice. She stepped back to the couch and dropped down on it.

"I really should go see Madame Pomfrey, but I don't want to wake her," Hermione said while investigating her arm. "And she'll kill me if I said it happened during detention."

"It happened during detention?" Sirius asked, sitting down next to her.

"Yeah. I was grinding scarab beetles. Let's just say that the flexing of the wrist wasn't a good idea."

"Here," Sirius said, grasping her arm gently and moving it over to his lap, "Let me fix that."

"You?" Hermione asked with a giggle in her voice, "what do you know about bandaging?"

"Quite a lot actually," he said and started unwinding the soiled fabric wrapped around her arm, "I've lived with James, Remus and Peter for the past six years." _And when you've got unexplainable gashed from a werewolf all over your body that are not even contaminated seeing as you were conveniently transformed into an illegal animagus at the time_, Hermione thought, _you're not about to go see the nurse_.

"True," Hermione agreed. And they sat in silence as Sirius removed the bandages from her arm, cleaned it with a spell Hermione was dying to learn and wrapped it back up with a fresh strip of newly conjured bandages.

"Not as good as the real thing," Sirius said as he folded the end of the bandage under itself and fixed it with a spell, "But it'll last until you see Madame Pomfrey." Then he grabbed her other arm and proceeded to do the same with that. When he had finished he used his wand to clean out any blood from the sleeve of her sweater. With a grateful smile Hermione rolled the sleeves back down to cover the bandages.

"Thanks," she said.

"No problem," he said and grabbed her shoulders in a one arm hug. "I'll see you tomorrow for breakfast."

"Okay, good night."

"Good night." And he picked up the book from the floor and sprinted up the stairs with a last grin.

Hermione went up the second set of staircases and went into her own dormitory. The four other girls were sleeping peacefully. She quickly discarded her clothes and slipped under the covers. With a smile on her face, she fell asleep.

*

The next couple of December-weeks passed smoothly and soon Christmas descended upon them, in all its golden glory. With a heavy heart Hermione watched the greatest part of the student population being pulled away in the carriages. She would not be spending Christmas with her parents this year and with a bang of sorrow she realised she hadn't been spending Christmas with her parents for quite some time now. She plastered a smile on her face as she waved her friends goodbye. Lily and Sirius where spending their Christmas with James. He had also extended the invitation to Hermione, but she had declined. Peter and Remus were going home, as was Severus. And as the last carriage faded away from her vision, Hermione felt utterly alone.

The common room was nearly empty, only keeping three third years, one girl and two boys. And Hermione longed for Ron and Harry as she watched them sitting in front of the fireplace, chatting eagerly.

*

Not even halfway into the vacation, Hermione had found her way into the library, looking for clues about the Horcruxes. Although Hermione was separated from Harry and his Horcrux-hunt by 20 years, she would be damned if she couldn't scrape together some information for the next time they met, even though she had to wait two decades to deliver it.

She knew from what Harry had told her and Ron that Voldemort had split his soul into seven pieces. Harry had taken care of the possessed diary in their first year, narrowly managing to save Ginny; Ron's sister, one of Hermione's closest friends and Harry's love interest during their sixth year. He'd also told them of the ring Dumbledore had destroyed.

That left four Horcruxes and the last piece in Voldemorts body. _What had Harry said remained?_ A locket, Hermione remembered. The one he and Dumbledore had found in the cave had turned out to be a fake, left behind by someone with the initials R.A.B., as written on a note placed inside it. Something was nagging in the back of Hermione's mind, just beyond what she could grasp and it annoyed her to no end. Trying to push it out of her head, she rose from her table and headed towards the endless shelves of books, trying to find one that could tell her anything she needed to know about Salazar Slytherin.

She needed to find books about the other founders as well, she reminded herself, as she remembered that a cup of Hufflepuff's might be a Horcrux. There was also a possibility that a yet unidentified object belonging to either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor could have been used by Voldemort to hide a piece of his soul.

Hermione quickly decided to leave what they suspected to contain the sixth Horcrux, seeing as Dumbledore supposed it to be hidden in Voldemorts great snake Nagini.

Hermione had gathered several dusty volumes in her arms and returned to her table, staggering under their combined weight. Since it was preferable not to have the librarian breathing down you neck for "ruining her precious books" during studying, Hermione carefully shifted the stack from her arms onto the wooden table.

She slid back into her seat, grasped a bronze-tasselled book from the top of her pile and began to read.

*

Hermione practically spent the rest of the holiday in the dusty library. She entered after breakfast and didn't leave until well after dinner. The librarian, taking pity upon her, allowed her to keep a store of food, collected during breakfast, in her bag, so that she would have something to eat during the day, though Hermione was commanded to close any book in the vicinity during her meal.

Hermione kept a small book for notes and would studiously scribble down everything she thought valuable and every time a book mentioned something belonging to any of the four founders, Hermione would note in short what it said, as well as the page and title of the book for future reference.

She sighed as she closed the fourth book of the day and leaned back on the wooden chair. Absent-mindedly she reached for a blank sheet of parchment and boldly wrote 'Voldemort' on the top. Whatever way you looked at it, he was the first and the one they, or more particularly Harry if things ended the way he'd always imagined it, had to deal with last.

She wrote 'diary' underneath, personally suspecting that Voldemort was the kind of person to choose such a personal belonging as his first Horcrux. If it turned out to be a success, which he was confident it would, his own essence contained in a book keeping his own thoughts and ideas would create a very powerful object and, in return, a very powerful protection.

The third word she wrote was 'ring'. The Peverell ring was what Hermione believed to be the second object he acquired. The diary was written in his sixteenth year and the ring stolen not long after. Although originating from muggles, which Hermione had been surprised to discover, it was a royal heirloom and had been kept by powerful wizards for centuries.

Now Hermione paused. The Slytherin locket and the Hufflepuff cup had been stolen at the same time, after the murder of Hephzibah Smith and Hermione was unsure of which object to range highest. In the end, she chose to place the 'locket' above the 'cup', believing that Voldemort would have judged the locket belonging to his own ancestor of greater importance.

That only left the yet unidentified, possibly once belonging to Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, sixth Horcrux. And unless Voldemort got his hands on it while employed at Borgin and Burke's, it came into his possession later in life. Biting her lip, she slowly wrote 'Ravenclaw' at the bottom. Hermione knew of two things that had once belonged to Godric Gryffindor and both were safely guarded in the Headmasters Office. The Hat, which every once in a while proudly proclaimed it had once belonged to the courageous founder, was safely tucked away on a shelf most days of the year and she was fairly certain Dumbledore would have known if it kept the essence of Voldemort. Harry had pulled the ruby-decorated sword out of the hat, in what was now the future and Hermione thought it safe to assume that Voldemort would have had a hard time getting his hands on it, seeing as Dumbedore had once told Harry that only a _true_ Gryffindor could have pulled it out of the hat. Those were the two objects Hermione had come over in her research, although no book she had read in this past library had been able to correctly name the location of the Gryffindor Sword and it seemed that it would have been much easier for Voldemort to get hold of something once belonging to Ravenclaw, seeing as her three daughters had proudly handed out various items to their descendants in the decades after their mother's death.

Hermione looked at the seven words and with a heavy heart placed only two small x'es on the sheet of parchment. This only served as a reminder of what Harry, and everyone sworn loyal to him, had to accomplish before ridding the wizarding world of Voldemort.


	10. Chapter 10

Christmas passed much without event. But seeing the school decorated for the Holidays brought back certain memories. The previous Christmas, albeit now years in the future, she had gone to Slughorn's Christmas Party with Cormac MacLaggen, an insufferable bastard, only to annoy Ron, who in turn seemed glued to Lavender Brown. Hermione had spent the entire party trying to avoid MacLaggen and had entered a nearby classroom to catch her breath. Not even a minute after she had entered, however, Snape and Malfoy had barged into the classroom next to hers, the one at the very end of the hall and Hermione had hovered by the door, trying to catch their conversation.

"That Bell girl must've had an enemy no one knows about," she heard Malfoy say, followed by something incoherently.

_"Ah … Aunt Bellatrix has been teaching you Occlumency, I see," Snape said, followed by a stretch of conversation Hermione didn't catch._

_"Looks like you'll have to break it, then, because I don't need you're protection!" Malfoy practically yelled, "It's my job, he gave it to me and I'm doing it. I've got a plan and it's going to work, it's just taking a bit longer than I thought it would!" Snape might have said something that Hermione was unable to catch, because Malfoy soon yelled: "It's none of your business!" A pause followed. "I've got all the assistance I need, thanks, I'm not alone!" _

_Hermione cursed Snapes low voice and praised Malfoy's current pitch, as she listened close._

"I would've had Crabbe and Goyle with me if you hadn't put them in detention!" Malfoy exclaimed loudly.

_"Keep your voice down!" she heard Snape spit, before his voice dwindled._

_"What does it matter?" asked Malfoy, "Defence Against the Dark Arts – it's all just a joke, isn't it, an act? Like any of us need protecting – " _

_"It is an act that is crucial to success, Draco!" Snape said suddenly, "Where do you think I would have been all these years, if I had not known how to act? Now listen to me! You are being incautious, wandering around at night, getting yourself caught and if you are placing your reliance on assistants like Crab and Goyle – "_

_"They're not the only ones," Malfoy said, "I've got other people on my side, better people!"_

_"Then why not confide in me," Snape said silkily, "and I can – "_

_"I know what you're up to!" Malfoy said loudly, interrupting him, "You want to steal my glory!" Then there was a pause and Hermione held her breath waiting for them to speak._

_"You are acting like a child," she heard Snape say at last, " I quite understand that your father's capture and imprisonment has upset you, but – " He was interrupted as the door to the classroom barged open. Through the small opening in her own door, Hermione saw Malfoy striding down the hall. _

_She remained in place for five minutes after Snape had billowed past and carefully snuck out of the classroom. She stopped by the party briefly, only to say she was leaving and was gone before MacLaggen reached her._

Hearing that conversation was what made Hermione first wonder if Harry had been right about Malfoy all along. He was in the service of someone and Hermione had had no doubts about it being Voldemort.

She paused for a second, just by a rarely used hallway. This was where she had run into Malfoy, only minutes after leaving the party.

Hermione almost passed without seeing him, but something made her stop. She stepped into the hall and found him with his back against her, with his forehead pressed against the cold stone wall. As she stopped, hesitantly, he had turned around. The light of the nearly full moon shining in through the window made his pale hair seem like a halo around his face. They stood silently, eying each other, as if trying to decide what the other would do. His grey eyes focused on her brown, for a second, before moving away. He made to pass her, but Hermione stepped to the side, getting in his way. With an annoyed wriggle of pale eyebrows, Malfoy moved again, trying to pass her on the other side. She intercepted again.

"Look, Granger," he said irritably, "I'm in no mood to play one of your stupid muggle games. Just let me pass." Hermione gently shook her head.

_"No."_

_"No?" Malfoy asked, "What do you mean 'no'?" he was standing right in front of her, with his arms crossed over his chest, looking like a confused child. He was even paler than Hermione had ever remembered seeing him. She looked into his eyes, trying to read them, but he turned away from her probing gaze. She stepped closer to him, making him freeze. She lifted one arm, paused for a second with her hand an inch from his face, before letting the tips of her fingers glide against his cheek. His eyes widened and Hermione stepped back, letting her arm drop to her side. She looked into his eyes and he allowed her._

_"See you around," she said and vanished._

Hermione let her gaze follow the stone walls of the dusty hallway.

Harry and Ron left for the Burrow the following morning and Hermione barely had a chance to say goodbye. She had been on her own when Malfoy pulled her into an alcove as she was headed back to the tower after lunch.

_"What was that supposed to mean?" he barked, grasping her arm painfully._

_"What?" Hermione asked, wrenching her arm free._

_"You know what!" He growled, stepping closer, drawing full advantage of the height difference between them._

_"It was a – gesture!" Hermione said._

_"A gesture?" Malfoy spat._

_"Yes, a friendly gesture."_

"A friendly gesture?" he repeated, "Whatever made you believe I needed a friendly gesture? From you, none the less." Hermione glared at him.

_"I – You looked like you needed a friend," she said softly._

_"I have friends," the pale boy said, with a snobbish tilt of the nose._

_"Do you?" Hermione asked, pushing forward, "Do you have friends like I have friends? Do you have friends who stick to you through the bad times as well as the good? Do you have friends you can rely on, friends you can confide in, friends –"_

_"Yes!" Malfoy said with a hiss, "I have friends … "_

_"Do you?" Hermione asked again, moving closer. She looked into his face. His eyes were moving between both of hers, as if trying to read her. She raised her arm and, without hesitating, let the tip of one finger follow the line of his jaw. "Do you?" he swallowed and bit his lip._

_"See you around," Hermione said and left the alcove._

Hermione smiled at the memory. She had intrigued him, she knew. And that boy was too curious for his own good. The Slytherin had taken to following her around the castle during the Christmas Break. Hermione hadn't been too sure what to think of that. But after that, she just couldn't believe he was the evil Slytherin Harry proclaimed him to be.

*

The Hogwarts students returned to the school after the Christmas Holidays on January 3rd. Hermione was standing outside in the snow, wrapped up in several layers of warm clothing, eagerly awaiting their arrival. Soon, seemingly horseless carriages appeared. Ayla leaped out of one of the first ones to arrive, and ran towards Hermione, her twin following closely. The two hugged her eagerly, smiling brightly, before heading up to the Common Room with a few cryptic words of leave, such as "Lily", "present" and "you'll see". The redhead appeared not long after the twins, hand-in-hand with none other than James Potter. The two grinned widely and gave Hermione brief hugs as they passed, Lily mouthing "I'll tell you everything later," as they left. Next, Sirius came bounding up the stairs, easily picking Hermione up and heaving her over his shoulder. He proceeded to march her through the throng of students to a quieter area off to one side, where he, ignoring Hermione's heated protests, waited for Peter and Remus to arrive. Remus, although the gleam in his eye twinkling a bit merrier that Hermione would have liked, gallantly spelled Hermione out of Sirius' grasp and warmly hugged her. Laurel gave a wave, as she followed the stream of students and soon the three Marauders headed up the marble staircases as well.

Hermione looked out on the thinning crowd, looking for one in particular. The suddenly, a familiar arm sneaked around her waist and she leaned into his warmth.

"Hello Leandra," he whispered into her ear and she felt pleasant shivers run down her spine. She turned towards him and brought her arms over his shoulders and behind his neck.

"Hi yourself," she mumbled and brought her lips to his. He mumbled against her lips, before succumbing to her and they stood absorbed in their little world in the middle of the Entrance Hall until well after the last student had trailed in through the enormous doors.

They briefly agreed to talk later, before separating, one heading up to the tower and the other down to the dungeons. With a smile on her face, Hermione quickly made her way up to the Common Room to meet up with her friends.

They were easily found, occupying a couple of couches in the near vicinity of a fireplace. Barely being allowed the chance to say 'hi', Hermione was whisked away to the dormitory by the four girls she shared it with. Excitedly, they all gathered around Lily's bed and she pulled out, from underneath her sweater, a thin golden ring on a long chain. Hermione, Laurel, Ayla and Elana gave appropriate giggles, as Lily launched into an explanation.

Apparently, James, who she had been _openly_ seeing for the past two months, had handed her this promise ring during Christmas, wore it on a chain.

"This way," she said with a giggle, "I can put it on my finger when I want to. And, if nothing else does, that will certainly tell him he's doing _something_ right!" The three other giggled childishly.

"Well, naturally he'll want to make sure everyone else knows you're taken," Ayla said with a happy sight, "Especially after Morrison tried to ask you out!"

"It seems rather possessive, doesn't it?" Lily asked.

"Nonsense," Laurel said with a smile, "You're a catch!" She tossed her hair dramatically. "He'd be a fool to let you let go."

*

With school in session and this being Hermione's seventh and last year, although taking it in the past, she found less time for studying the Horcruxes. But halfway into January, she did find something interesting. In a book about the four founders, in a chapter devoted to the education of the students, Hermione read the following:

" … and he handed to her, upon the day of their first graduation, that which she wore for every graduation she was ever to attend; a decoration comb in silver, the colour which he chose for his own house, to be worn in the hair, adorned with a richly detailed eagle in bronze and blue gems, which were the colours of hers. Of all the gifts given to her this was her most beloved and every child who received graduation papers from the school, saw the stately lady with the piece in her dark hair …"

Wrinkling her eyebrows, she pulled out her notebook and wrote a short synopsis and the title and page of the book. She quickly scanned some of the previous pages and found that several books had mentioned a favourite piece of Rowena Ravenclaws, which had been given to her during the early years of the school by Salazar Slytherin. As the bell rung for the first time, Hermione levitated all the books onto their proper shelves and hastened out of the library towards her Charms class. But the comb remained in her head. Its history certainly made it possible for it to have become a Horcrux, through its connection to two of the founders, including Voldemorts own ancestor.

She hardly paid any attention in the Charms class and was absentmindedly scribbling down thoughts and ideas about Horcruxes.

The diary, unlike the ring and locket, hadn't been hidden, but put in the care of a trusted ally. The ring had been hidden in the old Gaunt house and the locket had been placed in the depths of a cave Voldemort had visited as a child. Both these locations meant something to him and as such, Hermione suspected the other locations to be of some importance. Nagini would probably be found in the near vicinity of Voldemort, but where would the cup be hidden? And, if Hermione was right in her new suspicions, where would the comb be located? Which locations could be tied to Voldemort, or to his ancestry?

And what about the present location of the locket? Seeing as someone other than Voldemort hid it, they had no clue to its whereabouts, except the mysterious initials.

R.A.B.

Who could it possibly be? The names Hermione had found were few and far between and neither of them had any obvious connection to Voldemort. Could it be on of his followers? Someone who could have gotten inside information? Or was it someone opposing him, from outside his circle, who had done his or her research properly?

But Hermione doubted the latter, seeing as even Dumbledore himself had been lucky in his find, in hearing of the cave from Voldemorts matron all those years ago. A lucky guess wouldn't give you the location of Voldemorts Horcrux.

No, Hermione was more inclined to believe it was someone within his own circle. But who? Who, among his band of Death Eaters, could acquire such information and turn out to be false in their loyalty? Voldemort was, after all, a much-accomplished Legilimens.

This was what concerned Hermione and when she left the classroom after the lesson, she had, for the first time she could remember, additional homework in the class. Lily was walking next to her, sending her odd looks and Hermione knew she would have to make up a story, for when the redheaded girl sat down with her later to find out what had been on Hermione's mind during what was _most certainly the most important Charms class of the year_.

But loud voices reached Hermione's ear and as she looked up she noticed the tightening of the crowd. She pressed past a couple of people and over the shoulders of a fourth year she could see Sirius face to face with his brother, Regulus, who was in Slytherin. They were clearly having a disagreement and soon the youngest brother pulled out his wand. But the eldest whipped out his wand with the expertise of years of practice and sent his brother skidding along the floor. And before he could retort with what would probably have been the beginning of a spectacular wizards duel, McGonagall descended upon them.

"Sirius Black! Regulus Black! In my office immediately!" She grasped Regulus by his robe and pulled him to his feet, before turning towards Sirius. "Attacking another student! A younger student! And your own brother, none the least! I expected more from you, Mr. Black." But Sirius only raised his chin defiantly and without a word turned towards her office.

Hermione watched as the professor practically ran to keep up with one of the brothers, while nearly dragging the other behind her_. The Brothers Black_, she thought and shook her head. Sirius who she knew so well and Regulus who she didn't know at all.

Regulus Black.

She didn't know a thing about him, except the fact that he joined the Death Eaters shortly after finishing school and was killed not long after that again. Why was he killed? What did a young boy, of perfect blood, do to make Voldemort unleash his worst upon one of his own? Hermione paused in the middle of a staircase and Lily turned to look at her. _Regulus Black_, Hermione thought, _an R.B. who did something that deserved him being killed by his own_. And although Voldemort most certainly did not know his Horcrux had been removed, the success of such an act would make even the smallest of men feel practically required to offer some sort of defiance against the master he had fooled. Could Regulus have been the one to remove the Horcrux? Could he have kept it concealed from everyone, even to the brink of death? Could Voldemort have him ordered killed, without even knowing what Regulus had done to him? For Hermione was certain of one thing: if Voldemort but suspected Regulus, or anyone, of having removed his Horcrux, death would have been much preferred to the torture.

Hermione made a note to make more research about Regulus and the House of Black, as Lily pulled her up the stairs. It was a shame she had not thought of it, or actually known of the Horcruxes, before the wipe-out of Grimmaulds Place in the summer before her fifth year. After all, if Regulus was the one who stole the locket, it could have been well hidden amongst all the dark objects in the house of his family.

Wondering about what the possibilities of her getting her hands on a pensieve were, Hermione let herself be pulled into the Common Room by a progressively irate Head Girl.

Unfortunately, Hermione couldn't find the time to investigate more about the Horcruxes, or her theories about Sirius' brother. All her time was divided between spending time with Severus, spending time with Lily and the girls, spending time with Remus and the lads and, of course, finishing the mounds of homework the teachers set.

They were reviving everything that had been taught during the past six year and giving endless papers on the varying subjects to ensure themselves that the students actually knew what was going on. Hermione had nine classes: Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, History, Astrology, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. And in addition to this, she turned in homework in Muggle Studies as well, having decided to try to take the O.W.L.s along with the fifth years. She hadn't had any classes since she dropped the subject after her third year, but hoped that her muggle upbringing would suffice.

*

The weekend before Valentines Day the students were allowed a trip Hogsmeade. Hermione had planned to go with Severus, but after he, James and Sirius ended up in detention for two weeks after duelling in the halls she went with Lily.

They went from shop to shop looking at what were on display – seeing if maybe they could find something for their practically grounded boyfriends.

Lily convinced Hermione to join her as she was having her ears pierced. She hadn't bothered to pierce them earlier, but James had given her a beautiful pair of earrings for Christmas. She flinched ever so slightly when the witch in the salon sprouted a needle from her wand, but remained relatively calm during the process itself. Hermione had had her own ears pierced for the Yule Ball in her fourth year and remembered vividly the fear she had felt as the wizard who had done her had put the tip of the needle to her earlobe.

"You should get some more, you know," Lily said as she admired the small green studs she was wearing until she could get back to the ones James had given her.

"What?"

"Yeah. Two extra holes in each ear and you can wear pearls like that girl from the Fairy Four in the last _Witch Weekly_.

Hermione initially declined, but before she knew it she was sitting in the chair Lily had just occupied watching the needle advance on her.

Ten minutes later she was wearing three different sized white pearls in each ear. Except for the one grey pearl she consistently wore, even though she wasn't sure why.

Lily – looking extremely pleased of herself – and Hermione left the salon after they paid and made their way over to The Three Broomsticks.

Halfway there Hermione suddenly felt as though she was being watched and fell into step behind Lily as she discreetly looked around. Not long after she spotted a tall, darkly cloaked figure in on of the smaller alleys of the main street. When she turned too look again the figure was gone.

Furrowing her brows she followed Lily into the busy pub.

But after seeing the same figure – or at least very similar-looking figures – pop up at different places in the pub Hermione began feeling worried. She didn't voice her worries to her friends (she and Lily had joined Laurel, Ayla, Elana and a few girls from the year below them), but pitched the idea of heading back to the school. Luckily the others agreed and they left the pub.

Only a minute later a series of loud bangs sounded from further into the small village and the girls froze in their steps. They exchanged a few glances and Hermione tiptoed over to the building which stood in the way for their open view down the main street. She gasped as she saw darkly clad figures wearing Death Eater masks. Several of the buildings had been attacked and people had been shut into the shops.

She quickly ran back to the others and told the younger girls to run up to the castle as fast as they could and tell the Headmaster and the teachers.

"What can we do?" Laurel asked as the other girls sprinted up the road.

"People are trapped inside the building," Hermione explained as they hid themselves from view. "They're easily targeted there. We have to get them out."

"There are mostly students in The Three Broomsticks, Zonko's and Honeydukes," Ayla said. "We should get them out of there."

"I agree," Lily said, as they maneuvered their way – still hidden – closer to a place where they could observe the happenings down the street. "And I suggest we get them out first." Hermione nodded in agreement.

"If we could get people out through the backs in Honeyduke's and Zonko's we could get them into the Forest. They'll be relatively safe there if they stay out of sight and don't wander off." The five girls looked at each other.

"Are we going to do this?" Elana asked. After a second of silence everybody nodded.

"We have to," Lily said.

After casting Concealment Charms over each other they made their way to the back of Honeydukes. They easily found the back door and opened it with a whispered _Alohomora_ before sneaking in. Once they made it to the main area of the pub they were relieved to see that the adults had warded the front of the building. Hermione wove a charm over the windows and doors and turned to the terrified customers in the pub.

"We have to sneak out the back," she said calmly. "I'll send you out in small groups and need you to head straight for the Forbidden Forest. There I want you to stay out of sight and not wander of. You'll do yourself no good by escaping one danger only to walk straight into another. If you can, make you way to the walls that circle the grounds – and _stay there_. Is that clear?" Heads bobbed up and down.

"Lily stepped up beside Hermione. "All right. I need to divide you into two groups on either side of the pub. Third to fifth years on the right side along with the kids who are not students and sixth years, seventh years and adults on the other side."

As everyone did as they were told Ayla and Elana divided them into groups made up of both older and younger, so that the youngest had someone to look out for them. Laurel gently guided group by group to the back door, disillusioned them and sent them on their way.

When they had emptied the pub Hermione strengthened the charms that made the Death Eaters believe the place was still filled and followed her friends out.

As they walked from building to building they took some time to observe what the Death Eaters where doing. Some were duelling with the adults and older students who had been in the streets when they appeared, or who had came out of the shops to fight. Some were hoarding up frightened people and some were trying to get into the warded shops – some with more success than others. Hermione also noted several figures – more civilians than Death Eaters by a long shot – lying eerily still on the ground.

The five girls had pulled people out of every building they could get into. But some of the buildings hadn't had strong enough wards – and when they entered they only found destruction and emptiness, or Death Eaters. On those occasions they used the element of surprise and knocked the attackers down with several hurtled spells.

The attack hadn't been going on for very long when Aurors arrived. The girls quickly got in touch with them, and explained what they'd done. Laurel and Lily went into the Forbidden Forest with a group of Aurors to find the ones who had hidden there, while Ayla and Elana helped the Aurors with the students who were being transported back up to the school.

Hermione, on the other hand, refused to leave and was allowed to join a group of Aurours as they walked through the village looking for remaining Death Eaters and their victims.

Not long after a series of blazes lightened up the sky and they looked up. Strung over the roofs of the village was a large, green skull with a snake protruding from its mouth: the Dark Mark. Hermione involuntarily shuddered, but followed the Aurors as they made their way towards indicated district of the village.

A glowing trace of green could bee seen connecting the Mark with five houses and the group made their way from house to house – never finding any Death Eaters, but only people lying dead inside their own homes.

"Why would they attack Hogsmeade?" Hermione heard one of the witches in the group ask. "It's an all-magic village."

"And why these families?" a wizard asked.

"They're muggle-borns," Hermione said in a low voice. "Each and every home we've been into belonged to a muggle-born witch or wizard." The Aurors looked at her and then at each other.

"She's right," one of them said. "Every name I've recognized …"

"I guess the Death Eaters don't want any of _lesser blood_ in the purest village in Britain."

It was another hour before Hermione left the village. She was all alone on the road to the school and slowly the sounds of the village behind her died out leaving nothing but silence. But then something sounded from somewhere behind her and Hermione spun around. A tall, darkly cloaked figure stood further down the road. Hermione hurriedly whipped out her wand.

"You! You were in village earlier!" The figure nodded slowly. Pale hands appeared from the folds of the dark fabric and drew back the hood to reveal dark hair, pale skin and red lips.

"You," Hermione said falteringly and stumbled backwards. "What are you doing here?"

The demon smirked and brushed its hair away from its eyes.

"I'm here to see my little friend from the future, of course. It's been a while."

"Oh, I hadn't noticed," Hermione spat and aimed her wand at the demon's heart.

"You disappoint me, little one," the dark haired said, "I thought you'd choose the right side – the strong side."

"I've chosen the strong side!" Hermione said loudly.

The demon laughed.

"You actually think that old fool of a wizard will lead you to victory do you?"

"No," Hermione said honestly, "but I know someone else who will."

"So you've decided?" the demon asked after a moment of silence.

"Yes."

"Too bad. You could have been great. We could have been great."

And then she disappeared.


	11. Chapter 11

Now, even more than before, Voldemort's actions were heavily documented in the Prophet. The attack at Hogsmeade was covered for days, and new murders occurred weekly - every once in awhile leaving a student affected.

In the end of February, Hermione opened the Prophet to find a black-and-white photography of familiar faces twinkled up at her. The picture was taken at the funeral of Aurors and brothers Gideon and Fabian Prewett. Molly Weasley was sitting, nearly nine months pregnant by the look of it, next to Arthur and three children; Bill, who was seven, Charlie, at five and little Percy, only one and a half. Hermione angrily wiped the tears of her face. The two Prewett-brothers were only a small part of the losses of the war, but it gave Hermione faces to attach to the written numbers.

That evening she visited Dumbledore at his office.

"Do you know anything more?" she asked, "about when I might be able to return?"

"Unfortunately not, Miss Granger," the Headmaster said, "The most likely solution, unless you manage to recover your Time-Turner, is that you'll be pulled back into your own time by the magic that sent you back here."

"But I've been here for nearly six months!" Hermione said, "I'm already in the middle of a war, I don't need to be pulled into another!"

"There is only one war, Miss Granger, only one enemy. There is nothing I can do to send you back."

"I don't want to craft myself a life here as well, I don't need anything here that I have to leave behind."

"You create those bonds, Miss Granger."

"I know. But what will I do," she asked, "if I'm still here when school ends? I don't have a family, I don't have any money, I don't have anywhere to go!"

"We'll deal with that when July comes,"

"No! I need to know now," Hermione said.

"You'll stay at Hogwarts," Dumbledore said, "as an assistant to our professors and as Poppy's trainee. I suspect it will come in handy to know some First Aid, when you return to your own time."

Hermione nodded. "Okay. I can do that."

*

Hermione was sitting in the Library, surrounded by books. She was cross-referencing between at least three heavy volumes as she wrote her Arithmancy paper. She was writing down every bit of information she knew and was able to find, about the numerological values of the day Wednesday, which was the day she was born and the number 1, which were the numerological value of her birth date, the 19th and birth month, October.

Halfway into a badly written section about the sun and its connections to the number one, a small voice harrumphed and Hermione jumped so badly that she scattered every book she had magically angled on the table, before tipping backwards and crashing to the ground.

"Oh! Sorry! I didn't mean to disturb you," a voice piped and a pair of hands grasped Hermione and helped her up. A girl, taller then Hermione, with coloured skin, straight dark brown hair and green eyes, was standing in the midst of Hermione's upturned books, looking embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," the girl said again and pulled out her wand to magic all the books and papers up to the table again.

"That's all right," Hermione said and straightened the chair with a flick of her wand, "You're in my Arithmancy class, right?"

"Yeah," the girl said.

"Well, take a seat."

"Thanks." They both sat down by the table.

"Did you want anything?" Hermione wondered.

"Oh," the girl said, "I was just wondering if you knew anything about Pyramid Numbers?"

"Sure," Hermione said and accio'd a sheet of blank parchment, "What's your first name?"

"Indira."

"I-N-D-I-R-A," Hermione said, as she wrote the name down at the top. "Well, do you know the equivalent numbers?"

"Yes," Indira said, "One for the I, five for the N, four for the D, One for I, two for the R and one for the A." Hermione wrote each number under its respective letter.

"Right. You begin at the left-hand side and multiply one with five," she said and wrote five under the two first numbers, "then you multiply five with four, which equals twenty and two plus zero equals two, four times one is four, one times two it two and two times one is two." Hermione looked up from the paper and Indira nodded.

"Okay."

"Then you do the same, until you've got one number left-" Hermione said and quickly summarized, "-and eight times five is forty and four plus zero is four, so your number is four." Hermione smiled and handed the sheet to the girl.

"Thanks," she said.

"No problem," Hermione said with a smile and turned back to her own books. Indira pulled out her own Arithmancy book and began on her own homework.

Some hours later, Hermione looked up and saw an emptied library. She checked her watch and groaned. Indira looked up from her textbook.

"What?"

"We missed dinner," Hermione said and her stomach gave a rumble. "Do you want to come down to the kitchens with me?"

"You know where they are?"

"Sure."

"Okay," she said with a shrug and they collected their belongings and headed out of the library.

"You're dating that Slytherin, right?" Indira asked after a couple of minutes.

"Yeah," Hermione said, "Severus."

"I don't understand how you can," Indira said. Hermione stopped.

"What?"

"Oh!" Indira said and her eyes widened, "I didn't mean it like that! It's just - you're friends with Sirius and James and it's no secret how they feel about him. It's just strange how you can keep a relationship with all of them, that's all."

"Oh," Hermione said and began walking again. "I've got to admit it's been a little difficult. We kept it a secret for over a month. Everyone was too sure I'd end up with Remus to really pay any attention. And then there was all the fuss with Lily and James."

"Yeah, I know!" Indira said with a laugh, "It was all the school could talk about for that week! I mean, he's been after her for at least two years. She's been going out with several boys, but it doesn't seem to affect him. She dated Frank Longbottom for nearly a year when she was in her fifth and he in his seventh!" Indira must have believed Hermione's surprised look to be a look of confusion. "I don't suppose you know who he is," she said, "But he's training to be an Auror now and found a girl there too, I hear, Alice something."

"How about you?" Hermione asked, as they reached the still life that covered the entrance to the kitchens. Indira watched as Hermione reached out and tickled the pear. With a giggle, it sprung into a handle and the two of them entered.

"What about me?" Indira asked shyly as the House Elves ushered them over to a table.

"Have you got a special someone?"

"Well," she said, "Yeah, I guess so."

"Oh, do tell!" Hermione said and relieved an elf of its platter of sandwiches.

"Well, to begin with, I ought to tell you that I've spent three semesters at a school in India, close to where my parents grew up and where my mother went to school. The first semesters of my third, fourth and fifth years. My parents insisted and Dumbledore agreed. But," Indira said, "I favour Hogwarts."

"How come?"

"Well, I'm not sure. I think it might be the united magical society. I know it sounds weird, with the war and all, but it's truly different from India. The school I went to is located in Chandigarh, in the North of India, and house around a thousand students. So it's about the same size as Hogwarts. But my Indian school is one of the smallest of many large-scale schools all across the country."

"Really?" Hermione asked, feeling interested.

"Yeah. It does make sense though," she said. "Hogwarts is the only magical school in England of this scale. There's bound to be a couple of home schooled children, some who are sent abroad, perhaps back to their parents country or to relatives and a handful of small private schools. And in addition there'll always be the odd muggle parents who won't let their child attend Hogwarts. But even so, there are only around a thousand magical children in Britain, out of maybe 7 million who are Hogwarts-aged. If you apply that ratio to the 200 million in India between the ages ten to twenty, you're bound to end up with, oh let's see, some 20 thousand who need schooling at any given time."

"That actually _does_ make sense," Hermione said, "I've just never thought of it before."

"Few people do," Indira said. "But the largest school in India has a total of eight thousand pupils. It's branched into seven smaller schools, one for each year, and those seven are scattered over five of the states in India."

"Wow! Eight thousand students!"

"Yeah. My father is from one of those states," Indira said, "but he's a muggle, so I was sent to my mother's school. At _just_ one thousand," and here Indira gave a small giggle, "it's smaller than one seventh of the largest school. But I spent three semesters there and I met a boy."

"Oh! A boy!"

"Yes. He's four years older than me," she said. "His name is Pallav Patil and he'll be moving to England this summer and we'll get married."

_Patil_? Hermione thought. "How sweet," she said out loud.

"And let me tell you," Indira said with a laugh, "our children will most definitively be sent to Hogwarts!"

*

Easter really surprised Hermione. She had gotten out of bed one day and found the Common Room almost stripped of younger students. The fifth and seventh years remained, as they prepared for their O.W.L.'s and N.E.W.T.'s, but most of the younger years and some of the sixth years, had left. Hermione tried not to appear confused as she joined the others, but Remus still sent her an amused glance.

"Forgot Easter, didn't you Leandra?" Hermione felt herself blush and snatched a book from the loaded table in order to efficiently hide it.

"Have you done all the Arithmancy, Lea?" Lily asked and indicated the book.

"Some of it, how?" Hermione replied, lowering the volume somewhat.

"I wondered if you'd want to check my Heart Number?"

"Sure." Hermione scooted further to the side of the couch she was sitting in, allowing Lily to move from James' side to hers. She unceremoniously took a sheet of parchment from Remus and accepted Lily's spare quill. She wrote 'Lily', before pausing. "What's your full name?"

"Lily Evans!" Lily said with a laugh.

"No middle name?" Lily shook her head and Hermione turned back to her task and completed the name. She quickly wrote out the corresponding numbers under each letter, resulting in a string of nine numbers: 3-9-3-7-5-4-1-5-1.

Ignoring the consonant, Hermione added the numbers correspondent to the I, E and A in Lily's name and drew the number six next to Lily's name. She quickly picked up the book again and leafed her way to the proper section.

"The number six," she murmured as she read. After having scanned it, she handed it to Lily.

"'You would like to be appreciated for your ability to handle responsibility'," Lily read, "' You have a lot of diplomatic tendencies' - 'You have natural abilities to help people' - 'You are likely to have artistic and creative leanings' - Are you listening to this James?" James nodded half-heartedly and sent a sheet of parchment, ink still glistening freshly, in Sirius direction. Hermione eyed the pair suspiciously.

Soon, she collected her own books from the dormitory and began revising History of Magic with Remus.

And although Hermione had failed to see Easter coming, she was well aware of the fact that it was speeding along fast. They'd spend time revising and doing homework, before dropping them and rushing through the ancient halls and out to the grounds to spend some of the energy particularly Sirius managed to gather during the hours in the common room.

One memorable day Laurel had engaged the four boys, Lily, Hermione, Ayla and Elana in a series of games devoted to try, among other things, their concentration and trust.

"In a circle," Laurel said and pulled Sirius and Ayla beside her, "This is a concentration-game-" (Sirius groaned) "-called _Moose_," (He peaked somewhat at this) "-and it goes like this." She lifted a hand to each side of her head and spread her fingers, creating moose-like antlers and explained that the person who was 'the moose' did that, while the ones on each side lifted only one hand, the one closest, while all three of them chanted moose-moose-moose. 'The moose' would then be send between various people in the circle and whenever someone failed to raise their hands or chant, they dropped out of the game. They tested the concept once, before trying for real.

Laurel lifted both hands and began chanting. Sirius right hand and Ayla's right flew up and they joined her. With a smirk and wiggle of eyebrows, Laurel sent 'the moose' to Lily, who quickly broke into a chant with raised hands, with Peter and Hermione on the sides. The first to fall out of the game was Sirius, which, to tell the truth, didn't surprise anyone. After Laurel and Remus won, Sirius demanded a re-match - claiming he'd make it this time - but fell out second to Elana.

When Laurel changed to a similar game, however, Sirius surprisingly did rather good. Although Hermione suspected that it had its origins in muggle weaponry, Laurel explained that there was a leader in the middle who pointed out different people. The one indicated would drop to the ground, while the two next to him or her would engage in a 'duel' - the winner of said duel would be the one who could bellow out _Expelliarmus_ fastest. Peter fell pray to this game the fastest, while Lily - who had a fierce winner's instinct even on the worst of days - and Sirius ended up being the remaining two and had to walk five steps in opposite directions, before turning. Lily ended up victorious and was chased across the grounds by Sirius, who - once he caught her - slung her over one shoulder and threatened to throw her into the lake.

During a game of 'Prewie' - where every participant walked around blindly, trying to find Prewie, who was blind, deaf and mute, by whisperingly asking _Prewie?_ to everyone they met, reasoning that the only one who didn't answer would be the person in questing and then latching themselves on to him or her - Ayla earned herself a good twenty minutes of chasing and tickling by removing herself from the game after being chosen as Prewie and watching the others walking blindly around for a quarter of an hour trying to find her.

They had tumbled into the kitchen later that day, a couple of hours after dinner was over and devoured all the food the house elf had brought them, before engaging in a game of tag on their way up to the tower, where they collapsed in a heap on the floor of the Common Room.

*

After Easter, the seventh years found they had little time to engage in games. During all of April and May the teachers revived every subject they had had since first and third year and set foot-long essays on the theories in each subject. Hermione split her studying between everyone - studying Charms, Transfiguration, Runes, Astrology and Herbology with the girls, Defence and Potions with Severus, History of Magic with Remus and Arithmancy with Laurel, Elana, James and Remus.

They would sit engaged in discussions for hours, arguing back and forth about different magical qualities or theories. Enchanted quill recorded it and they put the material to good use in the numerous essays they handed it. It earned them very good grades and Hermione filed the use of self-writing quills in her mind.

Soon June was upon them and the Exams begun. The nine Gryffindor seventh years stood together, watching the other seventh years and the fifth years, as the nervously paced around in the hall. A creak sounded and the door to the Great Hall swung open. Hermione breathed deeply, before following the others. The fifth years were led to one side of the hall and the seventh years to the other and a magical barrier was put up between them. Everyone scrambled to his or her seat and, once settled, a stiffening silence followed. McGonagall quickly administered rolls of parchment and anti-cheating quills. Breathing deep, Hermione unrolled the first parchment and begun writing her History exam.

She was unsure of how much time had passed, when she looked up and saw that the fifth years had been released. She had finished every question and relaxed in a seat for a second. She allowed her gaze to wander among those next to her, before leafing through her heap of parchment in search of the first one. She wasn't finished quite yet - she still had to double-check everything.

When McGonagall rang the bell, Hermione was glad the see the parchment soar away. The students half-heartedly gathered at one side of the room as the Professors spelled it back into its original form. Hermione seated herself at the Gryffindor table with a heavy sigh.

This was promising to be a tough couple of weeks.

Hermione finished History the first day, even choosing to take the optional oral test after she had finished the written exam. She finished the written and practical exams in Charms, Transfigurations, Ancient Runes and Herbology during the following four days of the week. On the Monday that followed she took Arithmancy and Astrology (Arithmancy only having a written exam and the Astrology practical taking place during the night), on the Tuesday she did the written exam and the obligatory oral test in Muggle Studies, before doing Potions on the Wednesday and Defence on the Thursday. Thursday night she took the liberty of expressing her great pleasure in not having to get up early for the exam in Care of Magical Creatures and sprinted giggling up the stairs to the girl's dormitories before Sirius strangled her. She did not anticipate, however, the fact that Sirius turning the stairs into a slide sent her hurtling straight into his arms and was tickled mercilessly by the boys.

She was deeply relieved to see the end of the exams, though, and slept late the following day before trooping up in the Hospital Wing.

"Miss Tawnee," the nurse acknowledged upon seeing Hermione, "the Headmaster told me to be expecting you some time before the end of the school year, but I didn't think I'd be seeing you here in the middle of your exams."

"I finished yesterday, Madam," Hermione said with a smile.

"Very well," the nurse said and directed Hermione to the potions cabinet. "I want you to make yourself acquainted with these. I expect that you know most of them and we'll go through those you're unfamiliar with once you've finished." Hermione nodded and turned to the cabinet. The nurse continued her round as Hermione learned the system and went through the entire stock of potions, ointments and drugs. The nurse returned as she went through the last few and remained silent as she watched Hermione work. Once she replaced the last bottle, she turned to the nurse. Madam Pomfrey stepped closer and asked which of the objects in the cabinet Hermione was unfamiliar with. Hermione pulled out several of the corked vials and bottles and the nurse explained the general ingredients and to which cases it was best applied.

She proceeded to point out those most frequently used in the Hospital Wing - like the Dreamless Sleep and the Pepper-Up Potions. Hermione watched her with rapt attention, memorizing what the nurse recited.


	12. Chapter 12

After Hermione had given tearful goodbye-hugs to all of her friends, and given Severus a hearty kiss good-bye, she waved the carriages away and headed out onto the Quidditch pitch.

Since James and Sirius had threatened her to go flying with them that first time, she had gone with them more and more frequently during the year.

She was now very comfortable in the air and dared do many of the manoeuvres she had seen them do or she had observed during the Quidditch games.

She took one of the school brooms from the shed and quickly mounted it. She soared up towards the blue sky. The sun was shining and there were hardly any clouds to be found.

She was the only student left at Hogwarts now.

The next week would be spent in the dungeons with the Potions Master helping him re-stock the infirmary for the new school year. The two weeks following that again would be spent with Madam Pomfrey. They would be cleaning the entire space thoroughly with the help of a few House Elfs and go trough the entire stock of medicines and equipments, before Hermione would be joining the nurse at St Mungo's.

The nurse always spent a few weeks at the Wizarding Hospital every year, she had told Hermione, to keep up with what was happening. This year Hermione would come with her. And while the nurse went on vacation during the last weeks of the summer holiday Hermione could choose to remain at St Mungo's with the other nurses and Healers, or she could return to Hogwarts.

Hermione wasn't quite sure what she would do yet, but she thought she'd spend the last week of August at Hogwarts in any case to see if anything could be done to get her back to her own time.

Either way – she was really looking forward to learning more about Magical Healing. She had learned much from Madam Pomfrey in the few weeks she had spent in the infirmary with her. She had certainly learned more about the potions the nurse used than she had ever learnt in the Potions class. The nurse had made her think more about the effect you wanted to achieve trough the potions you brewed and it gave a completely other perspective on the whole process. Hermione had always been the one who followed the instructions in the book to the last detail, but now she understood that the key to true success and what made a Potions Master a true Potions Master, was the understanding of why the ingredients reacted the way they did and produced the results they did. She now knew how you could use that knowledge to your benefit to understand – and improve – what you were doing.

She had also applied this knowledge to the other subjects she had learned at Hogwarts. Trough the realisation that there was more behind the motions and incantations to spells she could begin to understand how they were invented and could be altered.

This new knowledge fascinated her greatly and she couldn't understand how she – who had spent hours upon hours in the library studying everything she could come over – hadn't though to research the principles of the spells and potions she worked with.

And as she soared trough the sky on the school broom she vowed she would look into it.

*

Three weeks into the summer vacation Hermione, and had helped the Potions Master restock the infirmary, had re-transfigured a years worth of bad transfiguration for McGonagall and had sorted the School Nurse's equipment and supplies. The Nurse had given her some days off before they were to go to St Mungo's. Hermione had packed some changes of clothes, and was walking down the road that led off the school grounds. She had firecalled Lily a couple of days ago, and was heading to meet her and the rest of their friends. She had written regularly over the past few weeks, not wanting to break contact evenly. She knew she should. She should make up some lie about going to some far-away place, and not being able to stay in touch. She should just fade out of their lives. She should have ended things with Severus. But she just couldn't. She had met him a couple of times. He knew she was apprenticing with the Nurse, and would meet her in Hogsmeade, or she would floo or apparate to Diagon Alley. She knew it couldn't possibly last, but she wasn't prepared to give it up until she was a hundred percent sure.

Leaving the school grounds, Hermione spun around and disappeared. She appeared in one of the assigned apparition-spots in Diagon Alley. She smiled, drew a deep breath and stepped into the sunlight. Heading towards the ice cream parlour, it wasn't long before she spotted her friends seated around a table. She felt her heart warm up. How could she abandon this?

*

When Monday came, after a long weekend of fun and games and sun and friends, Hermione was now ready to leave for St Mungo's with Pomfrey. They stepped into the fireplace in the Hospital Wing and appeared at the Hospital seconds later. The nurse greeted the witch behind the reception desk and made her way up to the first floor. Hermione read the sign: _Creature-Induced Incidents_. This was where Mr Weasley had spent his Christmas in her fifth year.

Madam Pomfrey made her presence known to a witch who was changing bandages on a young wizard and they stood waiting by the door for her to finish.

"This is where I'll be staying for the most part," the School Nurse told Hermione. "I will be up at the fourth floor as well. Spell Damage. Those are the areas that apply most to the students at Hogwarts, unfortunately. They can't seem to stay away from dangerous beasts, nor do they seem to keep from hexing each other at every opportune moment." Hermione nodded in agreement.

"You're free to chose where you want to be, of course," the Nurse added, "just tell me where you want to be and I'll arrange it with the Healers."

"What are the departments?" Hermione asked.

"There's Artefact Incidents on the ground floor, Magical Bugs on the second floor and Potion and Plant Poisoning on the third floor."

"I think I'd like to stay here," Hermione said, "on Creature-Induced Incidents."

"Very well," Madam Pomfrey said. "I expect you to be on your best behaviour and do what the Healers and nurses tell you to do."

The Healer finished up with her patient and approached the two.

"Hello Poppy," the brunette said as she shook Madam Pomfrey's hand. "I see you've brought someone this year."

"Yes," the Nurse said ushering Hermione forward. "This is Leandra Tawnee. She'll be staying here with me these weeks."

"All right. I'm Healer Stanton. I hope you've got a strong stomach."

As Madam Pomfrey began discussing student incidents during the past year, Trainee Healer Smethwyck showed around Hermione on the floor. He was a couple of years older than Hermione, and a former Gryffindor, with dark curls and blue eyes.

He pointed out the different wards, showed her every storage room and told her small facts about various locations and legends connected to this particular branch of St Mungo's.

And as new patients were brought into the wards and as people's bandages were changed and potions administered and people came back for their weekly or monthly check-ups Hermione slipped into the routine at _Creature-Induced Incidents _at St Mungo's. As soon as the Healers and nurses realised she could handle the stress of the emergencies and didn't flinch away from the sight of blood, they used her and her knowledge for all it was worth.

She would assist the Healers by checking for vital signs and checking whether the patients were unconscious or conscious and help administer the various potions that were required. She helped when bandages needed to be changed and ointments re-applied.

She became friendly with most of the staff, greatly helped by the Trainee Healer Smethwyck, or Will, who was a great favourite at the Hospital. She found the various professions at the Hospital very fascinating, and as she was a quick learner was able to do a lot. She worked intense and long days, but enjoyed it greatly.

There was only one problem. She had started getting flashed. She couldn't explain it in any other way. She'd get slightly dizzy and a flash of bright white would blind her for a second, and then disappear, leaving no after-effects. It happened maybe two or three times a day, leaving Hermione puzzled.

She didn't mention it to anyone, seeing as it only affected her for a couple of seconds each time, and soon she grew almost accustomed to them.

Hermione still stayed at Hogwarts, flooing to and from the Hospital every day, some times practically passing out in bed from exhaustion.

_Hermione silently entered the Hospital Wing. One bed was occupied._

_She carefully stepped closer and her eyes ran up and down his body. Large, white bandages were strapped around his chest and his face was even paler than she could remember. She carefully sat down in the chair next to his bed and fixed her eyes upon his face. His lashes, however pale they were, were clearly silhouetted against his skin and his hair was randomly tousled. Trying to sooth her nerves, she reached out and her fingers slid trough his hair, trying to arrange it. She ran her hand down his cheek, relieved to feel the warmth of live on the seemingly lifeless face. Suddenly his eyes flew open and were immediately fastened upon her. Both of them froze for a second, before Hermione leaned back in her chair, letting her arm drop to her lap._

"_How are you feeling?" she asked, desperately trying to read him._

"_Could have been better," he said with a shrug._

"_What happened?"_

"_Wonder-Boy didn't tell?" he asked bitterly, "I would have supposed it to be all over school by now. 'Golden Boy strikes down Death Eater Spawn'."_

"_He doesn't want to tell us," Hermione said. He looked at her searchingly._

"_I cursed him, he cursed me. That's all."_

"_That's all?"_

"_That's all."_

"_Oh." They sat in silence for a while._

"_How come you're here anyway?" he asked, "I was of the impression that those two dunderheads of yours never let you out of their sight. We've barely spoken since Christmas." _

"_I know," Hermione sighed, "But –" She broke off._

"_What?" he asked._

"_Let's just say that an item of Harry's give him a better view of Hogwarts than I would have liked at times, all right? He would have known if I came to see you. He's watching you."_

"_He's watching me?"_

"_Sure, he suspects that you were behind the necklace and the poisoned mead," Hermione said._

"_He does?"_

"_Mhm."_

"_Oh."_

"_What? Were you?"_

"_Well…"_

"_You cursed Katie and poisoned Ron?"_

"_So what if I did!"_

"_Oh, I'm not hearing this!" Hermione exclaimed._

"_What?" he said in a hushed voice._

"_You did that to them?" Hermione asked incredulously, bringing her voice down to match his._

"_Well, it's not like it was meant for them!" he said, looking like that was a perfectly reasonable explanation._

"_Who was it meant for, then?" Hermione inquired, slowly checking that nobody else was around._

"_,"_

"_What?"_

"_I can't tell," he said, avoiding her gaze._

"_Why?"_

"_Because you wouldn't understand," he snapped, "Because you'd hate me for it."_

"_I'd understand if you explained."_

"_You wouldn't understand."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because you don't think that way."_

"_I don't think that way?"_

"_That's right! You wouldn't understand it! You haven't been brought up to become a Death Eater since the day you were born. You didn't have to lie when you were five years old, when you didn't want your parents to fight again. You never looked down a wand into the eyes of an animal, hearing your father's voice in your ears, encouraging you to speak those words, to unleash that curse upon that innocent thing! You'll never know what life I've lead!"_

"_No," said Hermione, voice trembling, "I'll never know! But I can't begin to understand you if you don't talk to me."_

"_You want to understand me?" he asked, "You want to understand what I'm doing and why I'm doing it?"_

"_Yes," Hermione said, looking him steadily in the eye. "Tell me everything."_

*

Nurse Pomfrey had left for her vacation after two weeks, but Hermione remained for an additional three weeks.

By the time she retuned to Hogwarts the third week of August began. She spent much time with the teachers who had come back from their vacation and helped them arrange their plans for the school year. She went with Professor Sprout into each of the greenhouses to weed out the unwanted and dead plants and to plant new ones or replacements. She gathered herbs and plants in the greenhouses, on the grounds and in the Forbidden Forest to restock the Potions Supply Cabinet. She cleaned the crystal orbs and organized the tarot cards for the Divinations Professor. She cleaned out the quarters that were attacked to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom to prepare for the new teacher. She helped the Professor of Mugglestudies clean and restock her classroom – for though she was muggle born she had lived too long in the Magical world to be updated on the changes in the Muggle world.

And in every free moment she researched the possible Horcruxes. Well, every free moment she wasn't escaping the school to spend time with her friends and Severus.

She had traced Ravenclaw's comb, which she thought very likely to be something Voldemort would favour as a Horcrux, to the late Middle Ages, but from there everything became unclear. One family claimed to have brought it with to America in the middle of the seventeenth century as they travelled to the new world. Another written recording was from the Georgian Era and told that it was to be part of a bridal gift for the daughter of a sorcerer who was marrying a Scandinavian wizard. A third, brief, mention was a text that told about a two wizarding families who moved to Nigeria in the late eighteenth century in order to study ancient African tribal magic

The Hufflepuff Cup could be traced from Helga Hufflepuff to the important Wizarding family – the Smiths. The cup was supposed to have been owned by Hepzibah Smith – but when her family went trough her belongings after her death no trace could be found of it.

Slytherin's locket could be traced all the way from Salazar Slytherin to the Gaunt family. But of the Gaunts Hermioen could only find that two M. Gaunts had spent time in Azkaban around the same time. One had died during a six-month imprisonment and the other had spent three years in prison, was released, but then returned to the prison for a second – and more severe – crime and then died.

The coat of arms on the ring Dumbledore had found matched, from Harry's rather vague description of it, that of the traditional Peverell family. What Hermione guessed from what she read was that the Peverell's became Gaunts trough Edwards III third living son – John of Gaunt. The King had once given John a castle in Derbyshire. The Peverell family had actually once owned the castle. Hermione didn't feel at ease by the fact that John of Gaunt, who, it seemed, had some relation to those of the Slytherin line, and his descendants had had connections to such strong influences in the English monarchy. His nephew was Richard II, who took the throne after Edward III and amongst his descendants were the Lancesters, including Kings Henry IV, Henry V and Henry VI, and the Beuforts who later married into the House of Tudor.

The diary had been owned by Tom Riddle and destroyed by Harry and Nagini – if she indeed was a Horcrux – probably stayed near Voldemort.

All in all two things had been found and destroyed. The locket and the cup were most certainly Horcruxes, but their whereabouts far from certain. The comb was by far Hermione's best guess for the unknown item, but she still had no idea where to find it. And the snake would hopefully be with its master.

And then him.

*

_She was crying. Hidden in her four-poster bed, behind the deep red hangings and a web of charms, Hermione was crying. She had left the Hospital Wing in a daze after his silent explanations. She had urged him on, when his courage failed him, promising him, saying she wouldn't think lesser of him, that she wouldn't run away, that she was his friend now and that he wouldn't loose her. But how she had wanted to run away after he finished his tale. How she wanted to turn away from him and tell everything to Harry, just so that it might all be avoided. But trough these few months, Hermione had grown fond of him, in a strange way and could not run. Instead she had given him a brief hug and had said she needed to think. _

_Now she was hidden in her bed, crying, because of what he had told her, because of what he had been ordered to do. He didn't think he'd be able to do it, he said, but he'd have to try, for his family's sake, for his mother's sake, to keep her alive. And Hermione understood that. _

_But she couldn't help but think that something could be done to prevent it. She had, during these past years, grown to trust magic and its ability to accomplish things that she had previously thought impossible. If muggles could fake their own deaths, why couldn't witches and wizards?_

_Hermione brushed away her tears. There had to be a way out of this, she thought, something would have to be done. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the curtains aside. _

_She was going to the library._

*

The N.E.W.T.'s results arrived in the middle of August with a great owl that came swooping into the Great Hall as Hermione ate her relatively solitary breakfast. It came to a halt in front of her and offered the parchment envelope. Hermione relived the bird of its burden with trembling hands and offered it a handful of cereal.

She used an unused butter knife as a letter opener and pulled out a thick sheet of parchment. Feeling like this was the most nervous she had ever been she unfolded the letter and began to read.

A minute later the letter fluttered to the table as Hermione uttered a sigh of relief. She had gotten ten N.E.W.T.'s, out of which eight where Outstanding and two were Exceeds Expectations. She felt ashamed to discover she was disappointed. She had, after all, received ten O.W.L.'s – and nine of them had been Outstanding. But she had had to concentrate on a handful of the subjects – seeing as she had lessons in almost every subject – and in Arithmancy and Astrology she had fallen short.

_Suck it up Hermione_, she though. _Ten N.E.W.T.'s are more then what most people expect to get._

*

As August moved on, the flashed started getting worse, lasting for several minutes. When Hermione told Dumbledore, she has been surprised at his answer. He guessed it to be related to her time travelling. She had been in the past for almost a whole year now, and her body was noticing it. Maybe even trying to push her back to the appropriate year. This left Hermione with a stronger resolve. She needed to leave her friends. She needed to leave Severus. This was why she had arranged to meet him in Hogsmeade.

He met her at the outskirts of the village, where the road from Hogwarts ended.

"What's wrong?" he asked immediately and fixed his intent gaze on Hermione. She swallowed with some difficulty.

"What? Nothing's wrong –"

"Lea," he interrupted, "I've barely heard from you in weeks. Something's bothering you. I can tell." Hermione turned her face away but felt his hand tilt her chin back to face him. Her eyes fluttered close for a second and his hand fell away.

"I – you know I love you, right?"

"Now I do," he said with a smile and gave her a hug. Hermione bit back a sob and leaned into his embrace. He released her and looked at her with a smile that faltered as he took in her expression.

"There's more, isn't it?" she nodded and desperately searched for a way to phrase what had been on her mind for the past months.

"Severus – I can't see you anymore."

"What? Why?" he asked, with a slight tremble in his voice.

"Because – I'll be leaving," she said while trying to catch his faltering gaze.

"Where?"

"I – I don't know. I can't tell you."

"What? Does this have anything to do with Potter or Black? Or that Healer guy?" Severus had been more than slightly suspicious to Will Smethwyck from the Hospital.

"No!" she said, interrupting, "it has nothing to do with them. It's just – I'll be leaving. And I won't be coming back for a very long time."

"I'll wait for you Lea - I love you, you know. How long?"

"I – I won't be coming back. Ever." He stumbled backwards.

"Why?"

"Because I shouldn't even be here in the first place," Hermione said, feeling her voice struggle trough the constricting feeling she had in her throat. "I wish I could stay here Severus. I wish I could stay with you. But it's out of my hands. I don't belong here." He was staring at her unbelievingly; his dark eyes wide open with something akin to fear. It was the most vulnerable she had ever seen him. She hiccoughed trough her tears and moved towards him. She lifted one hand to his cheek, but he flinched away from her touch.

"I thought you were different," he said in a small voice. "I though you actually cared for me,"

"I do Severus, I-"

"But you're just like the rest of them. To think I believed you actually loved me."

"I do," But he had already disapparated, leaving her alone.

Hermione sagged to the ground. She sat there, on the grassy slopes next to the road, hugging her legs, hiding her face. Weeping for her lost love.

*

On September 1st Hermione worried to no end. She had been in the past for one year. Her flashed were getting stronger, and she had no way of telling if that mean she was any closer to finding her way back home. She had been talking with the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall – but they had gotten no further. She had told her friends she had accepted an apprenticeship in the Far East, and couldn't see them for some time. She had broken up with Severus.

She had been out on the grounds for a long time and only when she got in did she realise the students had returned from their holidays. That this was actually September 1st. Not wanting to be seen, she quickly headed towards the great marble staircase in the Entrance Hall.

She sprinted up the stairs, heading for Dumbledore's office.

But suddenly, she remembered he was in the Great Hall with the students and teachers. Cursing softly she made to turn around, but then her foot landed on one of the tricky steps and she lost her balance.

Like she was trapped in some horrible déjà vu, Hermione fell down the, impacting several times against the solid stone, before she fell skidding along the flagstone floor and lost consciousness.


	13. Chapter 13

Hermione woke with a gasp, her eyes opening wide. She blinked a couple of time, trying to adjust to the bright room, and heard someone shuffle towards her. A hand felt her face gently and Hermione's eyes followed the arm to land on a familiar face.

"Poppy?" The nurse paused for a second before nodding.

"You're in the Hospital Wing, Miss Granger," she said.

_Miss Granger?_ "Why?"

"You don't remember?" the nurse asked, as she opened a vial of potion. "You fell down the stairs, dear. Mr Potter and Mr Weasley brought you in a couple of hours ago.

"Harry and Ron?" Hermione asked in a whisper. "But- I need to see the Headmistress."

"I'll call her once you've had this," Madam Pomfrey said and offered Hermione a spoon bulging with a thick liquid, which she swallowed obediently. The nurse made an approving sound and headed for her office.

Hermione's head spun as she leaned into the pillow. If Harry and Ron were here that meant she was back. She felt a pang of relief, as well as great sorrow.

She tried to sit up in the bed but found that she couldn't. She eased the blanket off with one hand and saw that her entire torso was wrapped in supportive bandages. With a groan she replaced the white sheet of fabric. She remained still until McGonagall appeared a few minutes later.

"How long was I out?" Hermione asked immediately.

"That would be two days Miss Granger," McGonagall replied.

"That means that today is September 4th 1997?"

"Yes. Now I believe we have a schedule to discuss."

"Yes."

"As far as I remember your N.E.W.T.'s results from 1978 where practically Outstanding. How many did you receive?"

"Ten N.E.W.T.'s, Professor," Hermione said, "out of which eight were Outstanding and two were Exceeds Expectations."

"Very well. Which subjects do you want to take this year?"

"Is Duelling a N.E.W.T.'s subject?" Hermione asked.

"It does not qualify as a N.E.W.T., no," the Headmistress said, "but you can choose to take an exam and receive papers on your qualification."

"What about Healing?"

"No N.E.W.T., but the same qualification exam."

"All right. I had hoped for twelve N.E.W.T.'s, but I guess I'll have to settle for eleven."

"Which subject are you dropping?"

"Divination, Professor," Hermione said. "Professor Trelawny made it quite clear that I wasn't adept for the subject."

"What if your classes were with Firenze?"

"The centaur?"

"Yes."

"Perhaps. I've heard his teaching methods are far bet- different from Professes Telawney's …"

"Yes, I've heard something of the same," McGonagall said with a small smile. "Have you made your choices?"

"Yes. Full classes in Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Duelling and Healing, as well as additional classes in Arithmancy and Astronomy."

"Very well. I will arrange your schedule."

Hermione watched the Professor leave. She wondered if she would spend enough time in Hogwarts to actually learn enough to finish her exams. She expected to leave somewhere with Harry and Ron, or possibly the Order, to try to find the Horcruxes. She wondered if she'd even be alive to take the exams.

After all, with a wizard like Voldemort around one couldn't ever be certain.

A couple of hours later two very familiar figures came strolling into the Infirmary. The second they noticed she was awake they came rushing to her side.

"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed, grasping her hand. "You're awake."

She smiled warmly and squeezed his hand.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked from her other side.

"I'm fine Harry," she said. "It was just a little tumble down the stairs." She furrowed her brow slightly. "Who called my name?"

"That would have to be Ginny," Ron said with a sigh. "She's been a nervous wreck for the past few days, you know."

"You look different, Hermione." Harry sat down on her bed. Hermione swallowed. She had yet to decide how much to tell them. If she was going to tell them at all… Hermione mentally shook her head. No, she _had_ to tell them – just not quite yet.

"I do?" she asked with a small smile. Ron was about to say something but was stopped short as a figure came through the doors to the Hospital Wing, gave an exited shriek and came hurtling towards Hermione.

"Hermione!" Hermione winced slightly as Ginny brutally forced her brother aside and gave Hermione a hug worthy of Molly Weasley. "I'm so, so sorry! I didn't mean for you to fall down the stairs! I was just going to ask you – ask you…"

"It's all right Ginny," Hermione said softly, patting Ginny awkwardly on the head. "What were you going to ask me?"

"It doesn't matter now," Ginny said as she released Hermione. "How are you?"

"I'm fine - just a few bruised ribs. I'll need to wear supportive bandages for a couple of days, that's all."

"Thank Merlin!" Ginny exclaimed. "I thought I'd killed you! You crashed against the floor so hard I thought for a second you'd gone through it."

The conversation continued for the next half hour until Madam Pomfrey came to give Hermione her potions. Seeing as she'd be able to leave after she had taken them, Harry and Ron said they'd wait for her outside the Hospital Wing. When she rejoined them they walked slowly through the school towards the Gryffindor Tower. But halfway there they ran into a person Hermione wasn't expecting to see quite yet.

"Hullo Professor Lupin," Ron said and Hermione's focus quickly swivelled from Harry to their former Professor.

"Remus?" she asked and watched the werewolf freeze. He took his time looking her over a glimmer of recognition flashed in his eyes.

"This isn't possible," he whispered softly. "I know you." With a small cry of happiness Hermione slipped out of Harry's supportive arms and ran towards Remus. He opened his arms to her and she leaped into them, embracing him heartily.

"I never thought I'd see you again," he whispered into her ear. He hugged her extra tight for a second before letting go. "I mean – you're Hermione and I've known you since you for years. And I never guessed, I never saw…"

"Oh Remus," Hermione said softly. "I've missed you! Though I saw just saw you two months ago and you-"

"Haven't seen you for twenty years."

They stood in silence for a while just watching each other. Then suddenly they heard a cough. Remus looked over Hermione's shoulder and immediately a pink blush captured his cheeks. Hermione turned to look and remembered Harry and Ron. They were looking at her as if they'd never seen her before as their eyes moved between her and Remus.

"I haven't – I haven't actually told them anything yet," Hermione said in a low voice so that only Remus could hear.

"Are you going to?"

"Partly," Hermione said.

"Could I- No, never mind."

"I would love for you to be there when I tell them, Remus," Hermione said softly, grasping Remus' hand. "There are thing you don't know as well."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Meet me by the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy on the seventh floor at seven?" he nodded and gave her hand a squeeze. Momentarily forgetting the boys Hermione turned back to Remus again. "I'm glad you're here," she said and kissed his cheek. His blush deepened and, feeling Harry and Ron's stares, he disappeared down the hall. Hermione took a few deep breaths and turned to face Harry and Ron again.

Ron was looking at her as though she had grown a second head and Harry looked as though he was seriously considering it plausible that someone was Polyjuiced as Hermione.

"I'll explain later?" The two boys' eyes narrowed in very similar ways for a second before turning to look at each other. After a few seconds they nodded and stepped up beside Hermione again. They walked in silence for a few moments.

"What did you get on your charms test in first year?" Harry asked suddenly and Hermione let out a bark-like laughter.

"113 percent," Hermione said with a smile. "Don't worry, it is me. And I will explain everything later."

Giving her a sheepish smile Harry offered her his arm. She accepted it with a smile.

Not too long after they arrived in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady. The portrait smiled at them and Hermione could swear she saw the lady in the voluminous pink dress wink at her just as she swung open. She shook her head slightly and allowed Ron to help her through the Portrait hole.

Various people halted their process through the room as they greeted Hermione. Neville, blushing pink, gave her a hug and Dean and Seamus offered their wishes for her recovery from their game of Gobstones. Ginny came bounding over and hugged Hermione again. Waving Harry and Ron away, the redhead helped Hermione up the stairs to the topmost dormitory that read _Seventh Year_.

The five-bed bedroom looked strangely empty with only three trunks witnessing of the inhabitants-

Wait a minute - _three_?

Hermione sat down on the edge of her own bed. The one on the foot of her own bed was the same, sturdy black trunk with gold embossments that her parents had purchased for Hermione's first year. The one on the foot of the bed opposite Hermione's was the really fancy red and gold one Cecelia Spinks had gotten from her grandparents the past Christmas. And the third one stood next to Cecilia's; by the bed on the other side of the door from Hermione's own bed. Hermione squinted and made out three silver letters on the top of the lid of the dark brown trunk. L.S.T. Her eyes widened slightly. It was her very own trunk from the seventies! It looked much the same, but one could tell that it had been stored away from the past two decades. Hermione quickly turned back to Ginny, who had crawled onto the bed next to Hermione's, and was sitting cross-legged in the centre, fidgeting with the sheets.

"I was-" Ginny began, but paused for a breath. "I was wondering if you'd mind if I stayed here?"

"What?"

"Seeing as Parvati, Lavender and Lilian have yet to return and there's only me, Anne and Samantha in our dormitory and they want some Hufflepuff friends of theirs to come stay and-"

"Sure," Hermione said with a smile. "Of course you can stay here if you want to.

"Oh," Ginny said looking relieved, "thanks."

"No problem."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. "Is there anybody left in the dungeons and cellars?" Hermione asked, referring to the dormitories and common rooms of the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs. Hermione had, as Head Girl, been attending a couple of meetings with the staff during the summer, where they had recently decided to move the entire student body into the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers for safety reasons. However, as people only sporadically appeared it was hard trying to organize everything smoothly.

"No," Ginny said with shrug. "Most of the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins who have friends in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw are staying in the available beds in the dormitories. McGo- The Headmistress did have some rooms made ready for the rest, as you probably remember, but it's awfully cramped. Problem is that the Hufflepuffs won't compromise anyone's privacy by rooming with someone they don't already know, and the Slytherins already think everyone else hates them, so …"

"Yeah, I understand. It's a bad time for the Head Girl to get herself hospitalised."

"Probably," Ginny said with a grin.

"So how's the situation?"

"Well," Ginny said, "the few first years we actually have arrived when you were in the Hospital Wing. They were sorted in the Headmistress' Office as they arrived, you know, for future reference more than anything else, and they are actually few enough to stay in the two first year dormitories in the Ravenclaw tower. The first year rooms here have yet to be filled. McGonagall said you'd deal with it once you got better?" Hermione nodded and Ginny continued. "Right. There are relatively few second and third years as well. I don't know what their parents are trying to accomplish by having them stay at home, but I guess Hogwarts isn't considered as being as safe anymore, what with the happenings in June. We just split the four houses between the available second and third year dormitories in both towers. I think there are people from every house in each dormitory." Hermione nodded approvingly.

"Never thought I'd see the day Slytherins voluntarily moved into Gryffindor Tower," Hermione said with a small smile.

"It seems the younger ones are easier to manipulate," Ginny said with a smirk. "Most of the third years actually listened to what the hat said at the beginning of my fourth year, your fifth, and the second years did as them, luckily, and actually made friends with each other during classes."

"I-I don't think I've noticed," Hermione honestly said.

"That's because they're only a small part of the school, and on the other end age-wise," Ginny said. Hermione nodded in agreement.

"And the fourth years?"

"Now it gets worse," Ginny said. "The Hufflepuffs are mostly divided between the two towers, but, except for one Slytherin who has a sister in Ravenclaw, they all wanted to stay in the extra rooms McGonagall arranged. The same with the fifth years, and in addition most of the fifth year Hufflepuffs are staying in the extra rooms, seeing as there are more people remaining from that year than any of the others. The dormitories are almost full. The sixth years from all houses are mostly there as well, and all the Slytherins and most of the Hufflepuffs originally went to the extra rooms. But seeing as I'm moving in here," Ginny gave a small smile, "two of the Hufflepuffs will move in to stay with Anne and Samantha and one of the sixth year Ravenlcaw boys asked if he could stay in Gryffindor Tower to look out for his younger brother and sister. I said it was okay, and there'll be room for two more Hufflepuffs to move into Ravenclaw tower."

"And the seventh years?"

"All the Hufflepuff and Slytherin seventh years are staying in the extra rooms," Ginny said with a sigh.

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"Because by seventh year everyone is so closely knit together that it's difficult to interfere. McGonagall said you were going to arrange it, but then-"

"Yeah," Hermione said, "I was going to do arrange it with the older years September 2nd."

"Yeah well, we didn't want to move people in here until you woke up, so …"

"Sure. I guess I'll start to delve into it tomorrow."

They fell into silence. Hermione was actually terribly glad she had spent two days in the Hospital Wing. It gave her a relatively plausible excuse for having things explained to her that, as far as other people knew, had happened only a few days ago, when it in reality had been a year ago for her.

Soon Ginny announced that dinner was about to begin and the two of them headed down to the Common Room. There they joined Harry and Ron and left for the Great Hall.

*

After Ginny left to move her things up to Hermione's dormitory, Hermione led Ron and Harry to the Room of Requirement. Remus was waiting for them by the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy and the ballet-dancing trolls and the three men watched as Hermione paced in front of the blank stretch of wall opposite the wall hanging. After her third passing a door appeared and Ron stepped forward to open it. Hermione walked in first, followed by the boys and dropped into one of the plush chairs in the room.

"So," Hermione said, "I guess I need to explain some things." Ron and Harry nodded vehemently. "Right. Let's begin at the beginning, shall we?" she looked at each of the boys in turn before leaning back into the soft back of the chair. "This summer," Hermione said, "I received a Time Turner." Ron's jaw immediately dropped.

"No way!" he exclaimed, "You can't use a Time Turner. Not after what happened in third year. You practically drove yourself into exhaustion. I know for a fact you were treated by Madam Pomfrey for exhaustion and stress and –"

"Yes, Ron, I know. But I'm older and –"

"I don't care!" Ron said and received supporting nods from Harry.

"It doesn't matter now, anyway, I won't need it after all," Hermione said.

"How come?" Harry asked.

"That's what I was about to say," Hermione said, glancing at Ron. "We broke the Time Turners the ministry kept when we went there in fifth year. They've been working with new technologies ever since. I received one of the newer models to be able to take all the classes in my schedule. On September 1st I was looking at the new design of my Time Turner when someone, Ginny, called for me. My foot caught in the Vanishing Step and I fell." She bit her lip gently, observing the other three occupants of the room. "When I woke up I- I was in the Hospital Wing. In the year 1977." She held her breath as she watched Harry and Ron. Ron looked as though the heavens had crashed to the ground. Harry had furrowed his brows and was clearly thinking. Only seconds later he turned towards Remus.

"Yes, Harry." He turned towards her again.

"You – you met them?"

"I knew them."

"How long,"

"I stayed for an entire year."

Ron was now looking between his two best friends.

"What –"

"Do you know who were in their senior year at Hogwarts in 1977, Ron?" Hermione asked. He shook his head.

"I was," Remus said.

"And Harry's par-"

"Yes."

"So what happened?" Ron asked, looking interested.

"I met Sirius in the Hospital Wing that very first day. He was being treated after having fallen of his broom. He didn't particularly take to me in the beginning. I met Lily. She was the Head Girl and escorted me to the tower. I lived in her dormitory. Remus and I met a few days later."

"She was … quite impressive," Remus said. "Practically the first thing we talked about after we'd met was, believe it or not, werewolf rights." Ron gave a bark of a laugh and shook his head.

"That's Hermione for sure!"

"She went on and on about how most werewolves were misunderstood and before I knew it I'd told her everything."

"I didn't spend much time with Sirius and James in the beginning, but after I beat everyone in our practical Defence class the first day I certainly earned their respect."

"You beat everyone?" Harry asked, sounding a bit surprised.

"Yes. Why so surprised? You taught me well." Harry blushed pink but continued.

"It's just that – you only received –"

"An 'E' on my O.W.L.'s, yes," Hermione said, "but that's because those tests are partly by comparison. When everyone are judged against each other, those who are at the head of the class get an 'O'. You have taught many of us so well that there wasn't room for me in the top. But you weren't there to teach in the seventies, Harry. By comparison I was in the top of the class. They were through their seventh Professor and I guess there'd been little time for duelling practice."

"So – you spent an entire year there?" Harry asked. Hermione nodded. "What did you do?"

"I took my classes and eventually my N.E.W.T.'s," Hermione said.

"You've taken your N.E.W.T.'s?" Ron asked.

"Yes."

"How did it go?"

"Eight were 'Outstanding' and two were 'Exceeds Expectations'."

"You took ten N.E.W.T.'s?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Yes," Hermione said. "But I'll retake Arithmancy and Astronomy this year. As well as Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Duelling and Healing."

"You're planning to get fourteen N.E.W.T.'s?" Harry asked. Hermione laughed and shook her head.

"No. I'm only going for twelve. I'm hoping to bump Arithmancy and Astrology up to O's as well and I'll see what I can do with Divinations and Care, seeing as I only had the courses for one and three years, but hopefully I'll at least pass. Duelling and Healing aren't N.E.W.T.'s subjects, but I'm planning on taking tests in the subjects at the end of the year so that I have papers on my abilities. You should too, you know," she said, "I know for a fact you're both taking Duelling." Harry and Ron nodded absently.

"So," Harry began, "how old are you now?" Hermione looked at him quizzically. "I mean, you've spent a year in the past, as well as the time from third year-"

"Oh, Hermione said, thinking. "On paper I'm turning eighteen in two weeks. In reality I guess I'm at least nineteen years old by now."


	14. Chapter 14

The following day, after dutifully having taken each and every potion the Nurse had given her, Hermione began arranging where people were going to live. She sat with a piece of parchment in the Common Room and moved names around with her wand. She had decided to begin with the seventh years and hoped to pack every single one into the four dormitories available in the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers.

Ginny joined her just as Hermione had finished her first draft and Hermione decided to run it by her.

"Well - we are eleven girls, twelve since you're staying in my room, and fourteen boys - or they will be soon, as Dean tells me Seamus will be coming in a week or so. Their room is already pretty full - Harry, Ron, Dean, Seamus, Neville and Leo."

"And Terry Boot, Michael Corner and Anthony Goldstein are in the Ravenclaw dormitory," Ginny said.

"And then there are the Hufflepuff boys - Stephen Cornfoot, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Ernie MacMillan and Wayne Hopkins."

"And only Blaise Zabini in Slytherin?"

"Yeah. You know where I'm going with this, right?"

"Oh no. Ron will kill you if you suggest a Slytherin should move into their dormitory!"

"If McGonagall approves and Zabini agrees he'll have no choice."

"I don't know, Hermione," Ginny said, "it'll end in disaster."

"Nonsense. Now, the girls."

"Mandy Brocklehurst, Su Li, Morag McDougal and Lisa Turpin are already in Ravenclaw," Ginny said. "Maybe with those two Slytherin-what's-their-names?"

"Sophie Roper and Tracey Davies."

"Yes. Leaving Cecilia, Susan Bones, Megan Jones and Melinda Rivers with us?

"No. Cecilia said she wanted to go to Ravenclaw, she knows those girls better than me, honestly. They've all been discussing it. I talked with Morag and Mandy, who would like to come to Gryffindor."

"And that leaves?"

"Susan Bones, Megan Jones, Sophie Roper and Tracey Davies."

"Where do they go?"

"Well, with Cecilia, Melinda, Su and Lisa in Ravenclaw that makes four. Morag, Mandy, me and you in Gryffindor makes four."

"So two in more in each?"

"Yeah. And since Megan is friends with Stephen, who I already put in Ravenclaw, she'll go there with Susan Bones. And that leaves-"

"Two Slytherins with us."

"Yes. Is that all right with you? I've had Arithmancy with them for years now and they're very nice. Tracey even takes Muggle Studies. I think she's the only Slytherin."

"It doesn't bother me," Ginny said with a smile. "I don't think you would have invited them over - or Zabini for that matter - if you didn't trust them. I guess."

"I still have to run it by McGonagall - and ask those in question if it's all right, but I think it will be."

"What about the other years?" Ginny asked.

"Well, the first, second and third years are - as you said - already in dormitories. That leaves the fourth years, fifth years and sixth years."

"I'll help you, if you want."

Hermione smiled in thanks and they began to work.

A couple of hours later they met with the Headmistress in her office.

The eleven first years, fourteen second years and fifteen third years were previously arranged and Hermione and Ginny had drew up an idea to move the four Slytherin fourth years in with the six Ravenclaws in the same year and put the four Hufflepuffs in with the five Gryffindors.

The two of them had organized the 32 fifth years into what they hoped were cooperative groups, with six in each of the four dormitories Gryffindor and Ravenclaw offered and the remaining eight split between the empty first year dormitories in Gryffindor.

The same had been done with the 20 sixth years - arranging them in almost equal groups between the four available dormitories.

And if anyone arrived during the fall Hermione hoped to find room for them as well - and possibly put them in the available beds in the first year dormitories in Gryffindor.

As soon as the Headmistress gave her approval Hermione headed over to the extra rooms. She made her way to one of the cramped sleeping quarters. Megan Jones, Susan Bones and Melinda Rivers were all in there.

"Hey Hermione," Melinda said, looking up from her book. The blonde was lying on one of the beds with a book propped up against a few pillows. Susan Bones made her way over to Hermione.

"Hi," she said with a smile.

"I'm here to talk to you about the sleeping arrangements," the Head Girl said, catching the interest of the third Hufflepuff girls. Megan extracted herself from a stubborn set of robes that refused to be folded properly and joined the others. She pulled her flaxen hair into a simple ponytail and turned to face Hermione.

"I've been discussing with the Headmistress and worked out new sleeping arrangements. Would you like to hear them?" The three girls nodded. "Melinda," Hermione said, directing her words at the shortest of the two blondes, "Cecilia's moving into the Ravenclaw seventh year quarter's today and wondered if you'd want to stay there as well? Su and Lisa will be staying there and Mandy and Morag said they could move to Gryffindor so that you-" now she turned towards Susan and Megan, "-could stay in Ravenclaw as well. If this is all right with you I'll contact the House Elves and have them do what they can about the size of the room and move in the extra beds. What do you think?"

The three girls looked at each other.

"It'll be bigger than here, right?" Susan asked. Hermione nodded.

"And safer."

"I'm in," Melinda said and the two others voiced their agreement as well. Hermione beamed in response and asked them to meet her in front of the Ravenclaw entrance in three hours.

"You wouldn't happen to know where Sophie and Tracey are? I heard they stayed here as well ..."

"Sorry," Meghan said. "They were going out for a walk around the lake earlier, but that's almost three hours ago. They could be anywhere by now."

"All right. See you later." A chorus of goodbye's sounded and Hermione left the temporary sleeping quarters.

Instead of looking for the two Slytherin girls Hermione headed up to her dormitory. With a slight twinge of guilt she tapped the inside of the lid of her trunk with her wand and pulled out the sheet of parchment that was kept inside the hidden compartment that sprung open.

It was Harry's map - the Marauder's Map.

Hermione had snatched it from Harry's trunk during those hectic days between the Battle of Hogwarts and Dumbledore's ... before everyone left. She knew he had discovered it was missing when he returned to the castle after Bill and Fleur's wedding in August.

But Hermione simply couldn't let him discover the secrets she was keeping in the castle. She shook those thoughts away and opened the map with the proper promise.

She scanned the map quickly. Finding the ones she was looking for she made to tuck the piece of parchment back into its compartment, but decided against it. She was going to talk to many more people - she could just as well bring it with her in case she needed to find them in a hurry.

She made her way towards the Owlery as quickly as she could and ran into the two girls she was looking for in one of the hallways near the owl-infested rooms.

"Sophie! Tracey!" Hermione called and came to a halt in front of them.

"Hi Hermione," Sophie said with a smile, "in a hurry?"

"Not particularly," the Head Girl said, "but I need to talk to you. About sleeping quarters." The two brunettes nodded. "The Headmistress would like to move everyone out of the extra rooms and into the two towers. I've arranged with the Hufflepuffs to move into Ravenclaw tower - and Cecilia from my dorm with them in exchange for two of the Ravenclaws, Mandy and Morag - and wondered it you two would like to move into the Gryffindor Tower?"

"Sure. If no one minds."

"No, of course not," Hermione said with a smile.

"Who'll we be staying with?" Tracey asked.

"Me," Hermione said, "and Mandy and Morag from Ravenclaw and Ginny Weasley. She's one year younger than us and Ron's-"

"Little sister, yeah."

"Not hard to miss, no," Hermione agreed with a laugh.

"Meet me in front of the entrance to the tower in two hours time? You know where it is?" The two Slytherins nodded. "Good. Do you know where Zabini is, by the way?"

"He's in the library as far as I know," Tracey said.

"Thanks," Hermione said with a smile and turned and walked in the direction of the library.

Not to long after she made her way through the familiar wooden doors of the library. She scanned the small crowd and easily found the Slytherin she was looking for. Blaise Zabini - who was tall, dark and seemingly the incarnation of every fortune-teller's vision - was sitting on a chair that was elegantly balancing his chair on two feet while trying to read a book. The volume was open in his lap as he wiggled the chair backwards in hopes of leaning it against the bookshelf there. Hermione moved towards him and - when close enough - gave a small cough. The boy jumped, promptly lost balance and landed sprawling on the library floor. Hermione gave a small smile at the boy's unfortunate predicament, but gave him a helping hand as he rose.

"Granger," he acknowledged as he brushed down his robes.

"Zabini."

"What do you want?" the newly instated prefect asked as he tugged the prefect's badge straight and bent to pick up his book.

"Wondering how you'd feel about a change of dormitories," Hermione said simply. She straightened the chair he had been sitting in and sat down on it.

"Why?"

"The Headmistress wants everyone out of the extra rooms and into the two towers."

"And how am I involved in her crazy schemes?"

"You're moving to Gryffindor Tower," Hermione said. The boy's eyebrows almost vanished into his dark hair.

"And your Weasley says-?"

"He's not my Weasley - and I haven't told them yet. It doesn't matter what they have to say. If you can tolerate the insufferable fools, they will most certainly tolerate you."

"Or-?"

"Or there'll be Hell to pay. I'll have them sleeping in Myrtle's bathroom before you can say 'basilisk'." Hermione looked at him. "It'll be fine. I promise."

"No room for me anywhere else?" the dark-haired boy asked with a hopeful tilt to his voice.

"Afraid not Zab- Blaise. Fourteen seventh year boys in two dormitories give seven in each. Gryffindor already has six. You're alone."

"But Granger-"

"Are you whining?"

"Slytherins don't _whine_."

"Right. Meet me outside Gryffindor Tower." Hermione walked away leaving a glowering Slytherin in her wake. Grumbling about insufferable boys she whipped out the map and located her next targets. Seeing that they were in the Great Hall Hermione glanced at her watch. Lunch. She re-pocketed the map and made her way to the large hall. There was no trace of the four school tables - Hermione had failed to remember that they had been replaced by smaller tables organized in a circular fashion when she first arrived in the Hall after she returned to her own time - but she easily spotted the boys in question down the furthest end of the room. But as she made her way across the room a hand shot out and pulled her into a seat.

She breathed a small 'oh!' in shock and followed the line of the arm. She looked into a freckled face and hazel eyes.

"Have you been avoiding me?"

"No-"

"I have barely seen you since you got out of the Hospital Wing."

"I've been busy," Hermione told the boy. "Look Leo - we'll talk later, all right? A lot has happened and I just have to finish something for McGonagall first. Meet me you-know-where at seven?" He nodded, making his brown bangs bob into his eyes. She grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze before continuing on her way. Not long after she slipped into a seat next to the Raveclaw Trio - Michael Corner, Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein.

"Hi guys," Hermione said with a smile. Two pairs of brown eyes and one pair of grey landed on her.

"Hi Hermione," Terry said. "What's up?"

"McGonagall's having me re-organize the living-arrangements. She wants everyone in the two towers."

"So who's moving in with us?" Michael asked and took a sip of his goblet of pumpkin juice.

"The Hufflepuffs," Hermione said with a smile. "Stephen, Wayne, Justin and Ernie."

"But," Anthony said, ruffling his brown hair, "that leaves Blaise in Gryffindor. Do you think that'll work out?"

"It has to," Hermione said. "I'll bring them to the dormitory in a couple of hours. Make sure it looks acceptable!" She grinned, grabbed a piece of toast and continued down the circle of tables.

She stopped by Ernie MacMillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley telling them to meet her by the Ravenclaw entrance later, before heading over to Stephen Cornfoot and Wayne Hopkins. They were sitting with Megan, Melinda and Susan. She quickly explained it to the two boys, who agreed to meet her by the Ravenclaw entrance later.

"Have you seen Su and Lisa?" she asked as she made to leave.

"They left the Hall half an hour or so ago," Megan said, "but I don't know where to."

"Okay, thanks!" Hermione smiled and gave a small wave as she left. She sat down with Harry, Ron and Ginny for a couple of minutes to grab another bite of food before she left to find the rest of the Seventh year.

With the aid of the Map Hermione found Su Li, Lisa Turpin, Mandy Brocklehurst and Morag MacDougal in the Ravenclaw Common Room. Hermione had briefly discussed it with Mandy and Morag the past evening, when they'd asked if they could possibly stay in Gryffindor Tower, and hurriedly explained it to Su and Lisa. The girls nodded that they understood and all four of them went up to the dormitory to clean and, in Mandy and Morag's cases, pack their belongings.

In the meantime Hermione went down to the kitchens. She quickly found Dobby - who was the one House Elf she could talk to without driving herself to frustration, the elf to tears, or both - and explained to him what she wanted him to help her with. He readily agreed and said he'd meet her in Gryffindor Tower. Hermione smiled her thanks and returned to Ravenclaw Tower. She brought Mandy and Morag with her. They met up with Sophie and Tracey by the portrait of the Fat Lady and Hermione introduced them to the portrait before giving them the password.

After a brief explanation in the Common Room the five girls made their way up the stairs to the topmost landing. Hermione left the others there while she headed into the room to talk to Dobby. She said she needed an additional bed and watched as the House Elfs work. When they were done it almost seemed as though the room had grown in size - but Hermione wasn't sure if it was her imagination playing tricks with her or not. After sending the House Elfs away with instructions for the other dormitories Hermione opened the door with a flourish to find six girls waiting behind the door. Ginny and Cecilia had joined the others.

"This is the dormitory," Hermione said as the girls entered. She pointed to a bed on the opposite side from the door. "That's my bed," she said, "the one to the left used to Cecilia's but Ginny's taking it. The rest are free for the taking. Mandy launched herself on top of the nearest bed and Morag on the one next to it - between Mandy and Hermione. Sophie took the bed next to Ginny and Tracey the one next to hers again.

She left her new roommates with Ginny and left with Cecilia. They levitated Cecilia's belongings behind them as they made their way to Ravenclaw Tower. They meet Melinda, Megan and Susan next to the tapestry that hid the Ravenclaw Entrance. After Hermione had giving the correct password to the woven shepherd she guided the girls inside. Another brief explanation in this common room and the four girls were soon quartered in Ravenclaw Tower.

Hermione stepped out of the Tower to herd the four Hufflepuff boys inside and guided them to the dormitory they would be sharing with the three Ravnclaws.

The last person to be housed was Blaise. She found him leaned against the wall next to the Fat Lady and quickly introduced the two. Judging by the pink blush that crept up the portrait's cheeks as Blaise kissed her painted hand Hermione guessed she was quite taken with the tall boy. She ushered him inside and up the stairs to the boys' dormitories before anyone could react. She spelled the articles of clothing scattered across the dormitories to the owner's beds and led the Slytherin to the only unoccupied bed in the room - nestled between the more reasonable Harry and Leo to keep him from getting strangled by Ron.

She left the nervous-looking boy in the room and headed down to the Common Room and the unavoidable confrontation with the boys - and Ron in particular.

*

As expected Ron hadn't been on his best behaviour and Hermione was still fuming as she made her way to the corridor that kept the hidden entrance to the Room of Requirement. A door was already in the wall opposite the tapestry of the ballet dancing trolls and Hermione entered. On a couch with a book on his lap was a brown-haired, freckled boy who had been sorted into Gryffindor a month ago. In public he went by the name Leonard Blake. In private Hermione tended to call him Draco Malfoy.

"Ronald Weasley is an insufferable idiot!" Hermione spat as she seated herself.

"I could have told you that years ago, love," Draco said as he marked the page he was on and put the book away. "Now, what's happened?"

"You won't believe me," Hermione said.

"Try me."

"On September 1st I fell down the stairs and was transported twenty years back in time."

A stunned silence.

"You're right - I don't believe you." Hermione leaned over to swat his arm.

"It's true. I fell while I was holding my new Time Turner and when I woke up Dum- Dumbledore was leaning over me asking me if I was all right."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. I spent my seventh year in 1977 and '78. My schedule is being changed to make up for the N.E.W.T.'s I took twenty years ago. I knew Lily and James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Severus Snape when they were seventeen years old."

"How long did you stay?"

"One year to the date actually. I fell down the stairs again."

"Should I keep you away from stairs?" Draco asked with feigned concern. Hermione swatted the side of his head. "Have you told anyone else?"

"The Headmistress knows, having been there and all. I've told Remus-"

"Why? What's he doing here?"

"He was on Order business. He's going to be stopping by at least once a week, informing the Headmistress of what's going on. I've also told Ron and Harry ... some. I couldn't tell them everything."

"Why not? Do you have a dirty secret?" Hermione blushed red. "You do! Tell me! Tell me your dirty secret!"

"It's not a dirty secret," Hermione protested. "But it's not something I fancy telling Ron or Harry either."

"What is it?"

"I - no I can't tell you."

"Come on!" Draco exclaimed, "Nothing can surprise me after what you've already told me!" Hermione glared at him.

"I dated Severus Snape."

Judging by his dropped jaw Draco actually _could_ be surprised.

"You dated _Professor Snape_?"

"Yes."

"Man. I understand why you didn't tell that to Wonder Boy and the Weasel."

"Don't call them that!"

"What? They are!"

"You've shared a dormitory with them for a month. I know you like them more that you're letting on, _Leo_."

"Oh, shush you. Have you talked to him since you returned, by the way?"

"No. But I'll go. Soon." Hermione said. "He knows me. I went by the name Leandra Sophia Tawnee."

"You've got to talk to him, Hermione."

"I know. I just haven't had the opportunity." Draco sent her one of his stares. "I will talk to him - I promise."


	15. Chapter 15

Hermione was pacing back and forth across a small area of hallway conveniently located near a tapestry decorated with demiguises. Well, that's what everyone supposed anyways. Most of the time the tapestry sported a handful of trees with seemingly no inhabitants. Hermione bit her lip and threw worried glances at the tapestry. Finally she couldn't stand it anymore. She flung the tapestry aside and stepped through the seemingly solid stone wall behind it.

She almost stumbled back through the wall when Draco's tall shape suddenly appeared in front of her in a narrow hall.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, as she clutched her chest. Her heart was beating heavily from the shock.

"I thought I'd come with you, love," he said with a small smile.

Hermione didn't even know why she was so nervous. She tried to figure it out as they headed down the badly lit corridor, but couldn't come to any conclusions.

"Have you been to see him while I've been away?" she asked.

"Hermione," Draco said, "you spent a few days in the Hospital Wing. We didn't live the year you did, remember."

"Oh. Right."

A door appeared at the end of the corridor, which opened with a long-drawn squeak. A small head appeared in the gap.

"Miss Granger!" it piped and opened the door wider. "Misser Malfoy!"

"You should call me Blake, you know," Draco said with a smile, knowing the House Elf wouldn't.

"Hi Winky," Hermione said with a small smile. "How is he?"

"Much better!" the small House Elf exclaimed. "He still sleeps lots, but when he's not he's talking much and wanting to know what happens in the castle."

"That's great Winky. Is he awake now?" The House Elf's head bobbed up and down and she beaconed for them to follow her.

*

It was hours before they left, and Hermione felt drained. When they reached Gryffindor Tower, she headed straight to her room and to bed. Crookshanks, who Hermione felt had been ignoring her since she returned from the Hospital Wing and the past, came to her, leaping onto the bed and curling up next to her. The room spun as Hermione fell asleep.

_Hermione silently entered the Hospital Wing. One bed was occupied._

_She carefully stepped closer, her eyes running up and down his body. Large, white bandages were wrapped around his chest. His face was even paler than she could have imagined. She carefully sat down in the chair next to his bed and fixed her eyes upon his face. Hi__s lashes, however pale, were clearly silhouetted against his skin and his hair was randomly tousled. Trying to sooth her nerves, she reached out her hand and let her fingers slide trough his hair, trying to arrange it. She ran her hand down his cheek, relieved to feel the warmth of life on the seemingly lifeless face. Suddenly his eyes flew open and were immediately fastened upon her. Both of them froze for a second, before Hermione leaned back in her chair, letting her arm drop to her lap._

"_How are you feeling?" she asked, desperately trying to read him._

"_Could have been better," he said with a shrug._

"_What happened?"_

"_Wonder-Boy didn't tell?" Draco asked bitterly, "I would have supposed it to be all over school by now. 'Golden Boy strikes down Death Eater Spawn'."_

"_He doesn't want to tell us," Hermione said. Draco looked at her searchingly._

"_I cursed him, he cursed me. That's all."_

"_That's all?"_

"_That's all."_

"_Oh." They sat in silence for a while._

"_How come you're here anyway?" Draco asked, "I was of the impression that those two dunderheads of yours never let you out of their sight. We've barely spoken since Christmas." _

"_I know," Hermione sighed, "But –" She broke off._

"_What?" Draco asked._

"_Let's just say that an item of__ Harry's give him a better view of Hogwarts than I would liked at times, all right? He would have known if I came to see you. He's watching you."_

"_He's watching me?"_

"_Of course. H__e suspects that you were behind the necklace and the poisoned mead," Hermione said._

"_He does?"_

"_Mhm."_

"_Oh."_

"_What? Were you?"_

"_Well,"_

"_Draco!" Hermione exclaimed, "You cursed Katie and poisoned Ron?_

"_So what if I did!"_

"_Oh, I'm not hearing this!" Hermione exclaimed._

"_What?" he said in a hushed voice._

"_You did that to them?" Hermione asked incredulously, bringing her voice down to match his._

"_Well, it's not like it was meant for them!" Draco said, looking as though that was a perfectly reasonable explanation._

"_Who was it meant for, then?" Hermione inquired, slowly checking that nobody else was around._

"…"

"_What?"_

"_I can't tell," Draco said, avoiding her gaze._

"_Why?"_

"_Because you wouldn't understand," he snapped, "Because you'd hate me for it."_

"_I'd understand if you explained."_

"_You wouldn't understand."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because you don't think that way."_

"_I don't think that way?"_

"_That's right! You wouldn't understand it! You haven't been brought up to become a Death Eater since the day you were born. You didn't have to lie when you were five years old, when you didn't want your parents to fight again. You never looked down a wand into the eyes of an animal, hearing your father's voice in your ears, encouraging you to speak those words, to unleash that curse upon an innocent thing! You'll never know the life I've lead!"_

"_No," said Hermione, voice trembling, "I'll never know! But I can't begin to understand you if you don't talk to me."_

"_You want to understand me?" he asked, "You want to understand what I'm doing and why I'm doing it?"_

"_Yes," Hermione said, looking him steadily in the eye. "Tell me everything."_

*

A couple of nights later Hermione was heading up to the boys' dormitories, hidden from view under Harry's invisibility cloak. Just as she made to open the door to their dormitory she heard Harry and Ron's voices drift into the hall.

"We'll be leaving after Hermione goes to bed, I don't want to risk her finding out until we're well on our way."

"She'll be mad though," she heard Ron's voice say.

"Yeah," Harry said, agreeing, "but she'll be safe."

Instead of entering Hermione retreated her steps and walked up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. A few steps up, where she couldn't bee seen from the Common Room, she pulled the cloak off and ran back down the stairs heading for Ginny.

"I'm going down to the library," she said, "will you give Harry his cloak? Thanks. Tell Harry and Ron I'll see them later. Bye!"

She crawled out of the portrait hole and walked down the hall. As she turned the first corner she stopped, leaning against the wall. She closed her eyes and draped one arm over them as the first sob escaped her lips. She slowly slid down against the wall until she was sitting on the floor. She pulled her legs up against her body and wrapped her arms around them. Her head slumped down and she wept.

"Hermione?" Her head whipped upwards and through blurry eyes Hermione saw a shape further down the hall. "Are you alright?" a female voice asked and the blurry shape stepped closer.

"I'm f-fine," Hermione said.

"No you're not," the person said and kneeled in front of Hermione and she recognized her to be Morag. "What's wrong?"

"I – it's nothing."

"Hermione," Morag whispered.

"It's Ron and H-Harry," Hermione said, "they're leaving!" Morag grasped Hermione's hands in her own.

"Shh, it'll be all right," she said.

"No it won't," Hermione protested, "they're leaving!"

"Hermione!" another voice called.

"Leo!" Morag exclaimed, sounding relieved, "I don't know what's wrong, she says Harry and Ron are leaving-"

"Hermione," Draco murmured, gently stroking Hermione's hair, before turning to Morag. "Thanks for taking care of her. I'll take her from here."

"Sure," Morag said, "anytime." She smiled at Hermione, before walking away. Draco kneeled on the floor and looked into Hermione's face.

"What's wrong?"

"Harry and Ron," she said, "they're leaving."

"What?"

"Yeah, I've heard them whispering for days! But now they're really l-leaving!"

"Come here," Draco said and pulled her up with him as he rose up. Hermione clung to him.

"You don't understand! They're leaving without me!"

"They're just trying to protect you."

"I don't need protecting!" Hermione protested.

"I know," Draco said soothingly, "I know."

"There's so m-much I haven't told them about the Horcruxes," Hermione mumbled into Draco's shirt. He wrapped his arms around her. "Is Remus here?"

"Yeah," Draco said, "do you want to see him?" Hermione nodded.

They walked in silence towards the Professors' spare rooms. When they reached the one Remus habitually occupied, Draco knocked. Remus looked through the gap in the door, took one look at Hermione and opened the door wide. With a strangled sob Hermione threw her arms around Remus and he grasped her tight.

"What happened?" he asked Draco over her shoulder.

"Apparently Harry and Ron are leaving," he said, "without her." Remus eased Hermione into his arms and walked over to the couch. As he sat down Hermione rested in his lap. Draco dropped into the chair opposite them.

"If you told them you wanted to come, they'd let you," Remus said as he stroked her hair.

"I know," Hermione said. "But I want them to see that they need me to come." Draco and Remus exchanged looks over her head. "I know ten times as much as them about the Horcruxes," she said, "it's just that they don't know it yet."

"Why can't you tell them?" Draco asked.

"I will," Hermione said, "but I want to think it through. _Choose_ what I'll tell. Maybe put it in a penesieve. I want to tell Harry about his _parents_," Hermione wailed.

"I know," Remus said.

"And they think I'm crazy!" Hermione said. "I've only told them so much about what happened during that year," she said to Remus. "And there's so much that happened over the summer I haven't told them. And I'm not sure when, or how, I can tell them that. I'm keeping so many secrets!"

"You just need something to occupy yourself with while they're gone," Draco said.

"I know," Hermione said. "And I will. It's just – they're leaving without me, without even telling me."

"I'm guessing there'll be hell to pay when they get back," Remus said.

"You bet," Hermione said. "I'll release an avalanche of information on their poor souls. That'll give a nasty sting, especially when they return empty-handed."

"Note to self," Draco said, "never get on you bad side. _Again_, that is! I swear I still feel sore where you slapped me!"

"Good," Hermione said with a smile.

"There's that smile," Remus said. "Just keep your eye on that revenge of yours and you'll be fine."

"I guess," Hermione said.

A couple of hours later she entered the Common Room with Draco. He headed over to Dean while Hermione walked over to Ron and Harry who were standing over by the fireplace looking uncomfortable.

"I'm going to bed," Hermione announced as she reached them, feeling slightly annoyed at the relived looks on their faces. She bit back her wish to expose their entire façade and kissed them both on the cheek.

"Good night."

"Good night," they chorused and she walked up to the Dormitory without looking back.

The next morning Hermione sat down in front of the fireplace and stared gloomily into the crackling flames. She was unsure of how much time had passed when Ginny came barging through the portrait hole.

"They're gone!"

"I know," Hermione said.

"How do you know?" Ginny asked.

"I heard them talk about it."

"And you didn't tell me?" Hermione ignored her.

"Besides, where did you think Harry's map disappeared to? I watched them leave."

"What? How could you?" Ginny exclaimed releasing that famed Weasley anger. But Hermione refused to be cowed by it no matter how much Ginny resembled her mother. "You could have stopped them! You could have convinced them to let us come!"

"Oh, be quiet Ginny," Hermione snapped. "They didn't want anyone to come with them. They don't want to put us in danger. Besides, they won't be finding anything."

"How do you know?"

"I just do."

"And why do you have the map?" Ginny asked. "Harry's been searching for it since July!"

"I know."

"When he comes back-"

"You won't tell him anything!" Hermione said harshly, feeling annoyed. Ginny was three years younger that Hermione; two in actual years between births and one through Hermione's Time Travelling and right now Hermione could tell. "I'll tell him myself, Ginny, when the time is right. But for now, it's best if he doesn't have the map."

"What-"

"Am I not allowed to keep secrets? Do you think you're entitled to know everything that goes on in my life, or between me, Ron and Harry? If you do, you're wrong. You've got to earn my trust, Ginny." Hermione said. "You went with us to the Department of Mysteries and you fought in the battle in June and I respect that. But this is another game entirely and this requires other things of you. And if you're not willing to offer that, then you have no part in this!" Hermione rose and left the Common Room and a baffled Ginny behind.

She immediately headed for the Headmistress Office. She gave the gargoyle the correct password and stepped onto one of the swirling stone steps. When she arrived at the top she knocked three times with the brass Griffin knocker and was allowed entrance by the Headmistress. She greeted the Professor and took the offered seat in front of the stately desk.

Before the Headmistress could acquire of her presence Hermione said – "They're gone."

McGonagall paled. "Are you sure?"

"I've begun to suspect they'd do something like this over the past couple of days and, just now, Ginny told me they were gone."

"I have suspected something like this as well, Miss Granger," McGonagall said. "We'll have to inform the Weasleys."

"I could do that, if you don't mind," Hermione offered. "I haven't seen them in a while, you know, after all that's happened." The aging witch smiled warmly.

"If you'd be so kind to floo to The Burrow and tell Mr and Mrs Weasley I could find time to inform the Order."

"Where do I floo from?"

"You can use my floo now. But when you return please name the Hogwarts Kitchen as your destination."

Hermione nodded and accepted a handful of the sparkling floo powder from the Headmistress. She tossed the fistful into the fire and watched the flames blaze green before she stepped into the fireplace.

"The Burrow!"

The world spun out of view for a second and Hermione blinked to clear her mind. She had never been very comfortable with the floo, but after using it daily in her commuting from Hogwarts to St Mungo's over the summer she had become somewhat acquainted with it. That was also how she could gracefully stride out of the Weasley fireplace without even a hint of a stumble.

Hermione followed the sound of voices from the kitchen to the living room. Molly Weasley was sitting in a couch cradling a little flame-haired infant. The mother of the young boy sat in a chair not far away. Penelope Weasley, nee Clearwater, had eloped with Percy one year ago during his estrangement from the Weasley family. When she had learned of her pregnancy in the early winter the some months later she had urged him to reunite with his family. Not until mid-summer, with Bill's wedding approaching and with the baby well on the way, did Percy give in to her demands. He had appeared on the doorstep of The Burrow in early July with Penny, then eight months pregnant, on his arm.

From what Hermione had learned from Ron and Ginny, the third Weasley had had a hard time the first couple of weeks. He had talked with each parent and sibling individually, and they each accepted his return in varying degrees.

But when young Percy Jr. was born late in July, only weeks before Bill's wedding, the family had been reunited for real. There was no denying the happiness that blossomed on the redheads' faces whenever they laid eyes on their first grandson or nephew.

Hermione smiled greetings to the two women and, after saying hello the adorable little boy she in reality hadn't seen for over a year, sat down in one of the comfortable chairs. They talked about everyday things as Molly pulled out a small stack of photographs Bill had owled her from his and Fleur's honeymoon.

The handsome redhead and the stunning quarter-Veela were depicted in front of various locations around the world, locations known to both wizards and muggle tourists. The young blonde – she was, after all, Bill's junior by six years – was actually nearing her fifth month of pregnancy. _Not that it made her look any less beautiful_, Hermione noted with only a twinge of jealousy.

The girl, no, woman, Hermione knew from the Triwizard Tournament years ago had grown on her. She had thought her to be nothing more than a ditzy blonde who used her looks and Veela heritage to gain whatever she desired. But after Bill had been attacked by Greyback at the end of the school year Hermione had noticed something else in the quarter-Veela. A determined strength, a fierce loyalty and a definite, unyielding love for the maimed Weasley son. And once Fleur noticed Hermione's apprehension towards her had dwindled she took the initiative to get to know her better. Even Ginny had warmed up to her eldest brother's new wife.

Bill and Fleur had never intended to go on a honeymoon after their wedding, but the minute Bill learned Fleur was pregnant he began planning. He wanted to keep his wife and un-born child safe, and the best way to ensure this was to leave Britain. Hermione knew from Ron that the eldest Weasley son planned to bring Fleur to France eventually, where she could stay with her family. Hermione, however, was quite sure Fleur would return to England the second Bill did.

Hermione retuned the stack of moving photographs to the table when Penelope left with Percy Jr. to change his nappies.

"I'm here on Hogwarts, and Order, business, M-Molly," Hermione, stumbling slightly over the name she had recently begun addressing the Weasey mother by. Molly closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath. "I'm afraid Harry and Ron have left the School with no note of their whereabouts. I – I believe they're out on war business. Trying to find something that can help us against Voldemort."

"And they left you behind?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"Yes. You heard of my accident at the 1st of September?" Molly nodded. "I think they didn't want to put me in danger."

"And they don't see that you already are?" Hermione's eyes widened slightly. "We're all in danger, Hermione dear. And there's scarcely anything they can do to put you in more danger but to offer you to You-Know-Who themselves. I'm afraid that the two of them have failed to realise they'll have a hard time doing this without help – and yours in particular."

*

_She was crying. Hidden in her four-poster bed, behind the deep red hangings and a web of charms, Hermione was crying. She had left the Hospital Wing in a daze after Draco's silent explanations. She had urged him on, when his courage failed him, promising him, saying she wouldn't think lesser of him, that she wouldn't run away, that she was his friend now and that he wouldn't loose her. But how she had wanted to run away after he finished his tale. How she wanted to turn away from him and tell everything to Harry, just so that it might all be avoided. But t__hrough these few months, Hermione had grown fond of him, in a strange way and could not run. Instead she had given him a brief hug and had said she needed to think. _

_Now she was hidden in her bed, crying, because of what he had told her, because of what he had been ordered to do. He didn't think he'd be able to do it, he'd said, but he'd have to try, for his family's sake, for his mother's sake, to keep her alive. And Hermione understood that. _

_But she couldn't help but think that something could be done to prevent it. She had, during these past years, grown to trust magic and its ability to accomplish things that she had previously thought impossible. _

_Hermione brushed away her tears. There had to be a way out of this, she thought, something would have to be done. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the curtains aside. _

_She was going to the library._


	16. Chapter 16

Hermione and Draco were sitting in the library, their conversation disguised by Muffilatio.

"Do you think we should include other people in this?" Hermione asked.

"In what?"

"The Horcrux Hunt, of course," Hermione said. She had never intended to include Draco in the secret as early as she had done, but an unfortunate slip of the tongue over the summer had made it necessary.

"I don't know. Like who?"

"Neville, maybe. And Luna, if she ever comes back. Ginny, if she comes to her senses. They've done a lot already, you know. A couple of the other seventh years, perhaps, those we trust."

"We could," Draco said, "but why should we?"

"I'm not sure. A part of me wants more people to discuss this with, more brains thinking about it. Another part of me wants more people behind me when we tell Harry."

"Good point."

"I know."

"He'll be a bit a difficult, won't he?"

"A bit?"

"And Ron'll be worse."

"Probably. He doesn't think me capable of keeping secrets from them. Which is a bit odd, seeing as I used a Time Turner for an entire year without them noticing."

"Yeah, I agree, they're a bit stupid aren't they?"

"Draco!"

"Shh! It's Leonard, remember!"

"Yeah, right, _Leo_."

"Argh! I can't believe I didn't see that one coming!"

"I warned you."

"I know."

"So?"

"What?"

"About including others."

"Oh, yeah."

"So?"

"Longbottom? Really?"

"He knows a lot about plants that you'll never know."

"Yeah, but that's practically everything there is."

"It might be more than enough, if it saves someone."

"Guess you're right."

"So?"

"Yeah, sure, I'm with you. I'm not just certain about _who_."

"Well, there's me and you-"

"Obviously."

"-and Neville and maybe Ginny."

"Why maybe?"

"Because she annoyed me."

"Oh."

"Maybe Morag and Mandy – they live in my dorm you know. And Sophie and Tracey as well."

"Maybe."

"Or Terry, Michael or Anthony? They're very clever."

"Mhm."

"Or Su, Mandy or Lisa? They _are_ Ravenclaws after all."

"Yeah."

"And if we're including Harry, Ron, Neville and you – perhaps we should include Blaise, Dean and Seamus as well? You _do_ all live in the same dormitory."

"We do."

"Or Justin and Ernie, maybe?"

"I'm seeing a pattern here."

"You are?"

"You want an inter-house team."

"So what if I do?"

"Just wondering,"

"What?"

"How you'll keep from involving all the seventh years."

"What?"

"Do you really think you can invite Goldstein in, without including Boot and Corner? They're practically glued together at the hip!"

"Point."

"I know. They're even more tightly knit that before. Every year in each house is glued together."

"You're right."

"Of course I am."

"Begin with Neville, then?"

"And Lovegood?"

"She's not even here – and it's not certain she will be. They've only got each other, her and her father. Do you trust her?"

"Strangely enough, I do."

"Good."

"Wipe that smirk off your face, Granger."

"Of course."

"And the Weaslette?"

"If she'll behave."

"If she apologizes?"

"Or that. Stop smirking."

Hermione and Draco agreed to meet later and Hermione would try to get Neville along as well. Draco wasn't too sure of what he could offer, but Hermione kindly reminded him of how the Gryffindor had been part of the group of six who got Draco's father in prison.

She then headed for Gryffindor Tower and found Neville in a chair with a book on rare magical plants. After a hushed conversation Neville agreed to meet her in the Room of Requirement later. On her way up to the dormitory Ginny got in Hermione's way.

"Hermione," she said, "I've been thinking – and I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to attack you like that, it's just, I worry about them, you know I do. Ron's my brother and Harry – well, I love Harry, and Hermione, you know-"

"What?" Hermione asked harshly.

"You're my best friend," she said softly.

"Really?" Hermione asked, voice softer this time.

"Yeah, you know, after what happened in my first year you understand me more then any of the girls in my year. You've known Harry for years after all. You've been involved with V-Voldemort ever since you befriended Harry."

"It's not like I had any choice," Hermione said with a laugh.

"And – I want to help you do this," Ginny said firmly.

"Do what?"

"_This_!" Ginny said. "Fight Voldemort. Do the right thing."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am," Ginny said, "I couldn't do anything else after what he did to me. And besides - I know you've got something in store for those boys and they left me as much as they left you! They promised they'd bring us."

"They did!" Hermione said. "And you're right. They'll pay for it."

"So … friends?" Ginny asked.

"Friends," Hermione agreed and they hugged. "Then you might be willing to join me, Neville and D – Leo in the Room of Requirement?"

*

Ron and Harry had been away for three days without any word. Hermione and Ginny were sitting in comfy chairs in the Room of Requirement discussing the DA. It was Ginny who in the end pitched the idea.

"We do actually have a competent Defence teacher this year," Hermione said. "_And_ Duelling lessons."

"But we need more than that. We need to work together," Ginny said. "How do you think we'll all react if we're faced with a battle? No one will be able to do anything. We'll be disorganized and half of us will get killed. We need people on our side, on _Harry's_ side. _We need an army_."

"We've got the Order,"

"Screw the Order!"

"Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed reproachfully.

"Sorry. But you know I'm right. Many of the sixth and seventh years are very competent, but they have no idea what to do in a battle situation. You know as well as I do that there's a great chance that Voldemort and the Death Eaters will attack Hogwarts – we need to know what to do."

"But what do you suggest I do about it? Harry's not even here! And even if he was I don't think he'd have time to do it."

"Then _we'll_ do it!" Ginny said excitedly, a fire burning in her eyes.

"What?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"We've been in the Order for two months now without Ron or Harry."

"And I still can't believe your mum let you. Not after what Fred and George had to go through."

"She lost two brothers to the last war, Hermione. She knows what it's like to be left behind. But that's beside the point. We've learned much more than we think! We've even been part of a couple of training sessions! We've been in battle alongside Harry several times already. We know what's needed."

"Oh Ginny, I'm not sure."

"But what if we rope in a couple of people – say Leo and Neville – and hear what they have to say?"

"Ginny-"

"I absolutely think we should include the seventh years first," Ginny said. "They're the oldest and most experienced and would be a great asset whenever we feel ready to include more. And how many are you, again?"

"Twenty-five," Hermione said. "Padma and Parvati were pulled out first. And Lavender and Lillian never returned. All the Gryffindor boys are here, although Seamus only recently returned."

"Mhm, I heard his mum was livid," Ginny said.

"And Zacharias Smith, Sally-Anne Perks and Hannah Abbot. Kevin Enthwistle and Maverick Runcorn left, and, of course, Padma."

"So, three from Gryffindor, three from Hufflepuff and three from Ravenclaw."

"Yes. I'm sorry to say that I'm not surprised at how many Slytherins left," Hermione said, "Pansy left of course, with Daphne. Pansy's never hidden her true colours and Daphne is her best friend, so no surprise there. Not that I particularly cared for her or anything, but I had hoped Milicent stayed back."

"How come?" Ginny asked.

"Haven't you noticed how badly she's treated? She's always following Pansy and Daphne, but they look down on her because she's a half blood!"

"And she still went with them?"

"I suspect so. Maybe she thinks she'll earn favours with them by joining Voldemort. And Crab and Goyle left as well."

"No wonder, seeing as whom they hung with. Malfoy was the first to leave after all!" Hermione bit her lip, trying not to say anything as Ginny ranted off about Draco. She hadn't told the younger girl that he was currently attending Hogwarts under the pseudonym 'Leonard Blake' and wondered how she'd react whenever she found out. Ginny had actually become quite fond of 'Leonard', as most of the Gryffindors had, and Hermione found this highly amusing. But for Draco's own safety, they had to keep the act up.

One night from that conversation, Hermione found herself in the Room of Requirement with the rest of the seventh years.

Dean and Seamus were sitting with Neville and Draco watching Ginny intently as she explained why she had brought them here. Cecilia and Melinda sat next to them, with Justin, Ernie, Susan, Megan, Stephen, Wayne, Su, Lisa, Anthony, Terry, Michael, Morag and Mandy lined up next to them in a half-circle. Blaise, Sophie and Tracey followed, feeling a little apprehensive no doubt to be part of the group they'd vaguely heard shunned by the other Slytherins in their fifth year. Hermione felt a sting when she added the numbers together. Only 23 seventh years, counting herself. Only a few months ago they had been forty.

An intense silence spread around the room and Hermione looked up.

"What?"

"I asked," said Ernie MacMillan, "why you're the one who should lead us. Can't we just wait for Harry to come back?"

"Harry'll be a part of this as well," Ginny said, "but right now Hermione's our best bet." Ernie still didn't look convinced.

"Duel me for it, then," she said suddenly.

"Pardon?"

"If there's anyone in here who don't think I could do the job – duel me. The most capable will get to decide."

The seventh years looked at each other. Most of them remained sitting, but Terry Boot, Ernie MacMillan and Blaise Zabini rose. One boy from each house but Gryffindor. After exchanging glances with his friends, Terry stepped forward. Hermione fell into fighting position across from him, just like she had done with Severus on numerous occasions in Defence during the past year. She lifted her wand and inclined her head. And then she waited.

The Ravenclaw was an able dueller, no doubt about it, but he was too rash. Without using any simple, prodding spells to gauge information about her skills he dove headfirst into the duel. It didn't take long before Hermione had his wand in her fist. Blushing red he accepted it back from her and joined his friends. Cool as a cucumber, Hermione turned towards Ernie.

He raised his wand to match her. They observed each other for a minute before Ernie, making sure not to make the same mistake as Terry, sent a simple spell flying at Hermione. She banished it with a striking motion and hurled a beam of light back at him. They exchanged hexes for a few minutes – increasing in strength and difficulty as they went. But in three times the time it had taken Hermione to beat Terry she beat Ernie. He gave an apologetic smile as she returned his wand to him. Hermione turned to the third.

The Slytherin's gaze ran up and down her body before settling on her face. With a strange smile on his face he stepped forward and presented her with his wand the grip lying in his palm facing her. Hermione accepted it, twirled it a little and then returned it to him. Without a word he returned to the others and sat down.

"Anyone else?" Ginny asked with a smug smile.

*

Exactly one week after they left Harry and Ron returned – without a Horcrux. Hermione hadn't expected anything else, of course. Not that she had much clue about where to find them herself or anything, but Harry and Ron were lousy researchers.

She had entered the Common Room bright and early, only to find the two asleep in armchairs in front of the fireplace. Grinding her teeth, Hermione had spelled them into the air and guided them out of the room. Not many minutes later, after she had left them in the Room of Requirement, Hermione was making her way to the Headmistress Office. The gargoyles eyed her warily as she approached, but let her through once she provided the correct password.

"They're back, Professor," Hermione announced when she was admitted into the office.

"That's a relief," the Headmistress said. "Will you tell them to come by my office?"

"Of course. And I thought you would like to know that we've reopened Dumbledore's Army. Ginny and I have, that is."

"Indeed. Well, I see no reason why it should not continue. However, reports on the progress would be welcomed."

"Noted. I'll send the boys up once they're awake," Hermione said.

*

Harry and Ron's escapade left them hungry, exhausted and empty-handed. They wouldn't breathe a word of where they'd been, making Hermione surer than ever that they'd left without even a clue to guide them. When they heard that Hermione and Ginny had reopened the DA they became ecstatic, and wanted to reschedule the next meeting to an earlier date.

"No way," Hermione said, reclining in her seat. The three of them were in the Room of Requirement, where Ron and Harry had just finished off the fourth serving of sandwiches.

"Why not?"

"You're not even allowed _in _the DA, until you two tell me where you've been, and what you thought you were doing when you left me behind." She crossed her arms grumpily, and stared at them.

The two boys exchanged looks. Ron sighed, and Hermione knew they'd tell her everything.

"We're pretty sure, from what Dumledore told me," Harry said, "that Voldemort planned to make six Horcruxes. Leaving seven pieces of soul, including the one in him, to finish off. I already did the diary. Dumbledore did the ring. That leaves four."

"I know that," Hermione said.

"We know you do," Ron said. "Following Dumbledore's leads, we figured two of the others would be the cup and the locket. Nagini might be the sixth. Meaning we're only missing the fifth piece."

"And this is something we've discussed a million times!" Hermione said. "What made you leave so suddenly? Where did you go?"

"To London," Harry said. "We tried to find the orphanage Riddle lived at when he was young."

"And?"

"And we found it," Harry said.

"Well, what was left of it anyway," Ron continued. "It burned to the ground in the late seventies. We though he might have left something there. A clue. Anything, really."

"But instead you realised he'd had his cronies torch the place," Hermione said.

"Yeah, something like that."

"And why did you think he'd leave something as valuable as a piece of his _soul_ in a place he detested? Harry, would you leave something so precious to you with the Dursley's for safeguarding?"

"No," he admitted. "But at least now we know that for sure." Ron nodded in agreement.

"Ok," Hermione said with a sigh. "But have you thought any more about the sixth Horcrux?"

"Well, we've _thought_, but haven't made any progress really," Ron said.

"I have an idea," Hermione said. "This summer, well, that is _my_ summer, I spent some time reading up on the founders. I kept looking for special items mentioned, seeing as Dumledore thought it might be something belonging to either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Now, the only belongings of Gryffindor the books find worth mentioning are the Sorting Hat and the sword."

"And it can't be any of those," Harry said. "Dumbledore had them in his office for ever. He would have noticed."

"Probably," Ron said. "But we could check for ourselves anyways."

"How?" Hermione asked. "How would we know they are Horcruxes or not?"

"Point," Ron said. "But we'll have to find out some way to tell for sure. We need to."

"I know," Hermione said. "But, to continue, I kept looking reading about the founders. The locket you and Dumbledore went looking for, Harry, is mentioned, as is Hufflepuff's golden cup. It was actually kept at Hogwarts for many centuries, and the Triwizard Cup is modelled after it, before being reclaimed by what is now the Smith family, the descendants of Helga Hufflepuff. And of Ravenclaw only one thing ever got special mention – a comb."

The two boys looked at her.

"A comb? You think one of Voldemort's Horcruxes is a _comb_?"

"Yes. It's a decorative silver and bronze comb and Rowena Ravenclaw wore it during every school event she attended, ever since the day _Salazar Slytherin_ gave it to her."

"Oh," Ron said.

"Voldemort would like that," Harry said.

"I thought so. I traced the comb as far as I could. It follows a direct line of decent all the way up to the Middle Ages. That's when everything gets sort of fuzzy. One family claims to have brought it with them on their voyage to the New World in the middle of the 17th century."

"The New World?" Ron asked.

"America. But yet another family claims to have sent it with their daughter who married a Scandinavian noble in the 1760s. And yet a third mention hints to a group of families who moved to Nigeria in the late 18th century in order to study African tribal magic."

"And these are reliable sources?" Harry asked.

"As reliable as they'll ever get. British wizards didn't think much about people leaving the UK, and any mention of any of these after they crossed the border is at best a rumour."

*

With Ron and Harry back at Hogwarts, life went on. Students sporadically appeared as well as disappeared from school, and Hermione worked closely with the Headmistress to make sure everyone had a place to stay. She was still in charge of Dumbledore's Army, and was refusing Ron and Harry entry for the time being. Classes were in session, and the student body grew into a love/hate relationship with the Healing class held by the School Nurse. Duelling had not yet had its first session. Hermione, as Head Girl, had tried to contact the new professor, but he had notified the staff at the beginning of September of his immediate absence, with a promise that he would soon return to teach the classes.

Hermione had relatively few classes this year, but that didn't mean less work. She was taking Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid, but was going through the entire curriculum for sixth year as she was taking the O.W.L. in the beginning of December. She was taking Divination with Firenze, where she was going through even more curriculum since she dropped out of the class in the middle of her third year, and she was actually attending classes with both the 5th and the 6th years alongside the 7th years. She also had Arithmancy-classes with Professor Vector and Astronomy-classes with Professor Sinistra once a week, wishing to re-take her N.E.W.T.s, upgrading them both to Outstanding. All this meant that she didn't have any classes with Ron or Harry, who were both studying what Hermione called the Auror-four: Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms and Potions, as well as taking Herbology, as five N.E.W.T.s were needed to qualify. Hermione still had time to take care of her other duties, both as Head Girl, meaning that she arranged prefect-meetings at a regular basis, and being in charge of the DA.

Over the next few weeks, new additions appeared in ones and twos to the twice-a-week DA sessions Hermione arranged. Now including almost every sixth and seventh year left at the school, Hermione and Ginny finally allowed Ron and Harry to join them. A general round of applause broke out as the latter entered the Room of Requirement. Gaining everyone's attention with a few sparks from her wand, Hermione proceeded to arrange everyone into groups to continue the previous sessions work on defensive tactics in group formation. The Room of Requirement answered her silent wish, and expanded in all directions to give the teams plenty of space. The room also took on forest-like qualities, much like the classroom used by the centaur Firenze, springing trees and covering the ground in moss, undergrowth and leaves. Hermione sneaked a peek at Harry, and felt a smug smile tug at the corners of her mouth when she saw he was impressed.

"Ready teams?" Hermione asked. A general affirmative sounded. The teams were spread out in the far corners of the indoor forest. The teams were made out of two groups each, and they were going to fight each other using a number of defensive and offensive spells Hermione had assigned.

She raised her wand, looked out on the room and lowered it with a snap. The light in the room faded. She then turned to Ron and Harry, and cast a spell on all three pairs of eyes increasing their light-sensitivity before cloaking them in a general concealment and shielding spell. The three of them walked around in the room, observing the various teams, Hermione making notes.

"The task," Hermione whispered, "is designed to make them aware of both the positive and negative sides of fighting as a team, as well as fighting _against_ a team. Unfortunately, most of them had these almost romantic illusions of battle being fought as a series of one-on-one duels."

"Yeah, this'll set them straight," Ron whispered, watching a Ravenclaw sixth year duelling with a member of an opposing group. The other members of the group had already defeated the members of his group, and were now preparing to take him down as well – without him having any idea of this happening.

When Hermione called it time, and turned the lights back on, she ordered Ron and Harry to help the students revive the ones who had been petrified or otherwise incapacitated. Soon, the members of Dumbledore's Army were sitting on pillows on the floor facing Hermione.

After a half hour of reviewing what she had observed, Hermione signalled the end of the session by having Dobby bring out trays of sandwiches and jugs of pumpkin juice.

"So, now that Harry's back," one student said as they were eating, "does he take over?" Every conversation suddenly hushed.

"Well," Harry said, "I guess that's up to you guys." Hermione bit her lip and looked at the ground.

"Let's hold a general vote," Ginny said suddenly, jumping up. She waved her wand in circles in the air, conjuring a bowl filled with marbles. Another wave produced an urn. She placed both items on a table, and turned to the crowd.

"Red marbles for Hermione, blue marbles for Harry." She stepped over to the table, put her hand in the bowl grasping a marble and dropped it, unseen, into the jar, where it sounded a hollow _clang_ against the porcelain.

One by one the members of Dumbledore's Army stepped over to the small table and chose a marble for their candidate. When everyone had voted, excluding Harry and Hermione, Ginny retrieved the jar and emptied it onto the floor in the middle of the gathering of students. With her wand the separated the reds from the blues, and piled them up.

"Well, that's that, isn't it?"

*

Only halfway into October did their Duelling teacher return. His first lesson was scheduled, and the seventh years eagerly waited outside the locked classroom door for the bell to ring. The door slid open just as the bell sounded, and they all flocked inside. The classroom was fitted with a duelling range - a long raised platform centred in the room. Huge windows on the one long side of the room brightened it considerably, but the huge tapestries on the opposite wall depicting gruesome battle scenes balanced everything out evenly.

A row of chairs lined both stretches of wall, and the group of students seated themselves. Their teacher entered the room the very second the last chair was occupied. He was a tall man with auburn hair and a prominent nose, who always wore dark circular glasses that reminded Hermione of the ones John Lennon famously wore. He was dressed in a dark duelling robe. He moved towards the raised duelling platform with certainty, stepped onto it easily, and walked down the length of it.

"Good morning, students. I am Professor Burroughs, and I will be responsible for your Duelling skills this year."

"Good morning, Professor Burroughs," responded the seventh years.

Without further ado, he launched into a brief history of wizards duelling. He also explained the fixed rules of a wizards duel, but reminded them that fighting by the rules of duelling in a battle was only a sure-fire way to get killed.

Next, he demonstrated various positions the students were expected to know. In small groups he invited them up to practice, and when they had all had their turn they could hear the lunch bell signalling in the distance.

"That will be everything for today, class. Our next lesson has been scheduled, and will, I assure you, include more practical duelling. Lastly, I note that the optional exam will include both a practical and theoretical examination, the extent of which will be stated in the papers on your qualification, should you pass. Dismissed."

The seventh years left the classroom, and headed towards the Great Hall. The conversations were buzzing about their new teacher and the new lesson, and it seemed most, if not all, were looking forward to the practical class.

Hermione was walking with Ron and Harry towards the back of the class, when she thought someone said her name.

She looked around, but the only person left in the classroom was the Professor. He didn't even look up as he raised his wand and closed the door. Hermione shook her head, and kept walking. The weird thing was, she had the feeling someone had said _Leandra_.


	17. Chapter 17

Hermione, Ron and Harry's N.E.W.T.s classes went on, as well as the weekly Duelling and Healing classes and the sessions with Dumbledore's Army. After Hermione had remained in charge after a landslide vote she had opened up for inclusion of fifth grade students and had begun dividing the larger group into smaller sessions each week depending on students' skills and so forth. While there still was the occasional meeting with every member of Dumbledore's Army, most of the work now took place in these smaller groups. Students had soon begun showing preferences for various sorts of magic, meaning that they now had one group for defensive magic, one group for offensive magic, one for tactical planning, and more.

What Hermione worried most about, when she allowed herself to think about it, was how convinced all of the students were of eventually ending up in a battle – more specifically a battle brought to them here at Hogwarts.

But all in all, she was glad the students were prepared – or at least heading there. She was positive everything would end in a battle of sorts, but had long contained a childish hope that the battle would be between the adults. She was only now beginning to realise that she, and most of the students around her, had long since left their childhoods behind. And there was no way, really, that Harry could be left out of the equation. Hermione knew she was far from the only one who would let him go alone.

Beyond Hogwarts, _in the real world_, life moved on. The Death Eaters still launched sporadic attacks, and the Ministry could do little to stop it. Hermione almost felt bad not thinking about it every day, because Hogwarts students were still affected, people were still killed. But Voldemort was keeping a low profile. And that was almost scarier.

She felt … odd. Being back in seventh year. Being back _where she belonged_. Some days Hermione wasn't sure this was where she belonged at all. She'd wake up expecting to see Lily and the girls, expecting to go have fun with Sirius and the boys. Some times she even felt disappointed when she only had Ron and Harry… Other days, on the other hand, she woke up scared she still might be in the past, scared that coming back had only been a vivid dream. All in all, Hermione wasn't quite sure where she truly belonged. Back in the past, she had sworn to find her friends if or when she came back, to explain everything to them. But she just couldn't. She couldn't make herself realise that James and Lily, her friends, were Harry's parents. Were Harry's _dead_ parents. And what if the rest of her friends were gone as well? She knew Remus would know. At least something. But she didn't dare to ask. And he hadn't told.

They were into the third month of the school year. Hermione had yet to tell Harry and Ron who their roommate really was, and was putting it off every day. They had grown to be so friendly, that Hermione feared a revelation would actually destroy everything. Every week she would make her way to the room hidden behind the demiguise-covered tapestry, and after each time she felt … Hermione couldn't describe it.

Lost?

*

Christmas came suddenly. How could they be halfway through December already? Hermione tried counting the months and weeks, and it didn't feel as though things added up. Classes went on as usual. Hermione excelled in her Healing class (Pomfrey had eventually realised who she was, though, and had begun giving her the extra difficult tasks). And duelling … Hermione wasn't sure, but it felt like their Duelling teacher was ignoring her. And Hermione was still enough of a teacher's pet to feel that sting. She felt stupid every time she thought it, but she was _supposed_ to be liked by all the teachers. Well, Snape hadn't really liked her at all, she remembered. But Severus had loved her, hadn't he? The problem was that Hermione didn't know why the teacher was ignoring her. She was behaving exemplary! And Ron and Harry swore it was just her imagination.

Hermione had taken the practical and oral O.W.L. exam in Care of Magical Creatures. She was taking it with a handful of other students who either hadn't been able to take it before the summer, or had failed and wanted to retake it so that they could proceed to take the N.E.W.T.'s. The results were expected back over Christmas. She had also taken the finals for Divination's third and fourth year curriculum.

She had also come a bit closer to finding her friends. She hadn't asked Remus about it yet, but she'd spent some time in the library looking through old newspapers. She'd found Laurel's wedding announcement, from when she married a Jacob Townsend in 1980, and Elana's announcement with – and here Hermione gasped – George Pritchard in 1981. She didn't find any marriage announcements for Ayla. Hermione hoped that only meant that she hadn't married. She wasn't sure if or how she was going to get in touch with them yet.

More students than ever were staying behind for the holidays – many of the older students confessing that they feared their parents wouldn't let them return to school of they came back for the Holidays.

Not wanting to spend their Christmas at Hogwarts, Hermione, Harry, Ron and Ginny had taken the Floo to Fred and George's shop in Diagon Alley, and made their way to Grimmauld Place. Since the Order of the Phoenix had been monitoring the building over the summer, and had confirmed that the protective spells were still in place, they figured it was safe to go there. It was Harry's house, after all. The Weasley family, except Fred and George, who were now living in a flat above their shop, had no idea the four wasn't spending their Holiday at school.

Not particularly trusting Kreacher not to poison their food, Harry had politely asked if Dobby would like to join them, something the elf, happily weeping, had agreed to.

As they entered number twelve, it became apparent the House Elf had been there for quite some time.

Harry groaned.

"I told him to wait for us!" he said, when Hermione opened her mouth. "I swear! I was going to call him when I knew it was safe!"

The entrance hall was no longer a dark and dreary stretch of hallway. The wood panelling lining the lower part of the walls had been washed clean, and the wallpaper had been stripped from the rest of the walls, which had been freshly painted. The threadbare carpet that had last lined the floor had been removed, and the wood floor was scrubbed clean. The Black family portraits in their ornate frames were still there, but festively decorated with Christmas decorations. The gas lamps brightened the hall, helped by a large, gleaming chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Even the heavy curtain covering the portrait of Sirius Black's old mum had been washed clean. Mrs. Weasley's cleaning of almost two years past was nothing compared to this.

The four removed their outer wear and left the clothes on top of their luggage out in the hall. Not quite believing what they saw, they went down the hall towards the basement. Once down the stairs and inside the kitchen, they saw that Dobby had worked his magic here as well. The stone steps leading down to the kitchen as well as the flagstone floor inside had been scrubbed clean. Iron pots and pans and gleaming copper kettles hang from the ceiling, reflecting the fire from in the huge fireplace across the spacious room. The huge wooden table was scrubbed clean, not a single grease stain could be seen. And Dobby the House Elf was busying himself in front of the large stove and a steaming pot.

"Masters and Missuses!" he exclaimed when he saw them. "Happy Christmas!"

"Happy Christmas, Dobby," Hermione said with a smile. "Have you been here long?"

"Dobby is been here all night, Miss! And many nights before!"

"Oh, Dobby, you shouldn't have," Harry whispered, as the elf happily turned back to his big pot and began informing them about what he was serving for supper.

After the delicious meal, the four of them grabbed their luggage and made their way upstairs to the bedrooms. The huge house – spanning from basement, through ground to fourth floors, all the way up to an attic – could house a great deal of people.

They climbed the grand staircase – happily noting that the rows of shrunken House Elf heads had disappeared – passing the first floor, which kept the drawing room and the room Ginny and Hermione had occupied when they last stayed here, with an adjourning bathroom, and stopped as they reached the second landing. Harry and Ron entered the room they had used, containing two twin beds and a huge wardrobe. Hermione and Ginny retreated to a similarly outfitted room. The old rugs were gone, and the floor and walls thoroughly cleaned. The wardrobe had been emptied and cleaned.

They left their belongings heaped on the two twin beds, and went to explore the house. On the second floor there was a third bedroom in addition to the two they now occupied, as well as a shared bathroom and a smaller toilet. All rooms looked decidedly cleaner and fresher now that Dobby had been there.

Further up on the third floor was the master bedroom. This had been where Sirius' parents had lived, and where Sirius had kept Buckbeak the Hippogriff. Hermione and Ginny looked around with interest, but it seemed Sirius had gotten rid of everything that reminded him of his parents. And in his days of hard work, Dobby had aired and cleaned out every remaining trace and scent of hippogriff. There were two bathrooms adjourning to the room – one for the Master and one for the Mistress. Both were the most sizeable of the bathrooms in the house. In addition to this there were two bedrooms and a bathroom.

On the topmost landing were two bedrooms which had belonged to the two brothers Black. Their names were still on plaques on the door, Hermione and Ginny noticed. On the left was Sirius' room. It had been cleaned by Dobby, but traces still remained of the boy who had left it behind at sixteen. There was a huge bed draped in Gryffindor-red hangings, a desk still keeping twenty-year-old Hogwarts school-books and a wall papered with photos of the former occupants and his friends.

"Look," Ginny said, "there's Harry's dad." Hermione felt a lump grow in her throat as she stepped over to the photos. Most of them showed the four boys Hermione had gotten to know in her year in the past: Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Lily Evans, Laurel Loudwater, and Ayla and Elana Cressida, as well as other people she'd grown to known, could be spotted in a handful of the pictures. They were all smiling and waving, looking incredibly happy. Hermione herself, however, was nowhere to be seen, having only joined them after Sirius moved out of his parents' house.

Across the landing was the room that had belonged to Sirius' younger brother, Regulus. Contrastingly, his room was adorned with green hangings and curtains, but similar books were found in his shelves and photos of his friends on the wall.

"They're not so different, these rooms," Hermione said. "You can tell they were brothers." Ginny nodded in agreement.

"Though the Slytherin vs. Gryffindor colours do tell them apart."

On the landing there was a hatch in the ceiling, and Hermione and Ginny could fold down a ladder when they had opened it.

The attic, though having been dusted by Dobby, was too filled with boxes and various items to have been cleaned properly. Hermione knew they had put some boxes in there themselves the summer before sixth year when Mrs. Weasley had had them empty the cabinets in the drawing room downstairs. Some of the things had been binned (Sirius advocating this strongly), while some items had been stored. Most of the things in the attic, however, had been stored away by the Black family themselves.

The two girls climbed back down the narrow ladder, and headed back downstairs. They found Ron and Harry in a sitting room on the ground floor. In addition to the sitting room, the ground floor also kept a large dining room and a sizeable library. Hermione had been forbidden to enter the library during the summer they spent cleaning. She had complained rather grumpily to Sirius when she had been told, but they would not budge. Some volumes in the library were most certainly dangerous, and having neither time nor resources enough to figure out which, and not wishing to simply throw them away, Sirius had simply locked the library for the time being.

The sitting room also kept a large fireplace, lighted by Dobby for their arrival. The heavy curtains covering the large windows were drawn, and the four of them were seated in large, though slightly uncomfortable – feeling as though they had been selected for show rather than for use – chairs and sofas.

"Dobby's really done a great job, Harry," Ginny said. "We checked the rooms on all the top floors, and they're spotless."

"I didn't ask him to do all this," Harry said. "I only asked if he'd maybe want to come help us a bit over Christmas, with the food and that."

"Its okay, Harry," Hermione said. "I'm not thinking you're abusing Dobby. I know he'd do this and a million more things for you if he thought it would make you happy. I'm just glad he didn't get himself into danger going here alone and unannounced."

They sat in silence for a while, staring into the roaring fire. Ginny, growing restless, rose and started walking around in the room. She opened the wide double-doors that led into the dining room, and disappeared from view. She returned a few minutes later.

"Did Sirius' brother have a middle name?" she asked suddenly?

"Why?" Ron asked.

"Well, I know Sirius had one. He told me that Christmas we spent here. He was named for his great-grandfather on his father's side and his grandfather on his mother's side – Sirius Pollux Black. I found them on the family tree in the dining room." Ginny indicated the room she had just been in. "I just wondered if …" Hermione felt a chill down her spine. She knew she had once thought what Ginny was thinking now.

"What?" Ron asked, sounding irritated.

"Come here," Ginny said, wanting them to join her in the dining room. She led them over to the tapestry hanging on the wall. She pointed out the relatives Sirius had been named after.

"I just wondered," she said, "if Regulus might have been named after his grandfather?"

Hermione reached out to touch Regulus' name. Her finger followed the golden thread up to pass _Orion Black_ and _Walburga Black_, his parents, up to his father's father. _Arcturus Black_.

"Regulus Arcturus Black," Harry whispered. "R. A. B."

*

A couple of days into their holiday they had still not figured out if Regulus ever had the locket, or where he would have hidden it. Ron was positive it would have been in the things they chucked out when they cleaned out the house, but Harry didn't think Regulus would have kept it in his parents' home. Ginny and Hermione didn't know what to think, but they had brought down the boxes they'd stored in the attic and were carefully sorting through them.

It was Christmas Day, and while the Hermione and Ginny were sorting through the boxes Harry and Ron were in the Kitchen helping Dobby preparing the dinner.

Ginny was just opening the third box when Ron burst through the door.

He didn't even have to say anything. The two girls jumped to their feet and followed him at a sprint as he spun around and hurried back to the kitchen. Harry was sitting by the large wooding table, facing an old radio.

"-events of last night. The number of witches and wizards affected is still rising, and extra wards are being put up around St Mungo's in order to help better disguise the wounded in need of medical attention. An estimated number of two dozen households have been targeted-"

Harry turned of the radio, and turned to face Hermione and Ginny.

"What's going on?" Ginny asked.

"There have been Death Eater attacks," Ron said, sitting down opposite Harry.

"Targeting the families of muggleborns. Hogwarts' students."

"No," Hermione said with a gasp, leaning back against the wall.

"Two dozen households," Ginny asked in a whisper. "How many?"

"We don't know," Harry said. "The dead and wounded are being transported to St Mungo's as we speak."

"We'll need to go there," Hermione said immediately. "We have to know –"

"Can we floo there?" Harry asked, looking at Ginny and Ron.

"Yes," Hermione said, striding towards the fireplace. "Yes we can."

Without waiting for the others, Hermione grabbed a handful of the sparkling powder and hurled it into the fire.

"St Mungo's!"

She stepped into the green fires, and the world spun. It felt as though it took ages, but soon the somewhat familiar St Mungo's arrival hall appeared. Hermione stepped out of the fireplace and into chaos. There were people everywhere. People were levitated everywhere. Still figures hovering in the air, and Hermione couldn't tell if they were dead or alive. Healers were running around trying to organize everything.

Hermione made her way towards the emergency ward. Every bed was occupied, and wherever there was an available spot there had been conjured a temporary trolley. There were too many patients, and too few Healers.

Without even thinking about it, Hermione grasped her wand tight and headed towards the nearest unattended patient and got to work. She wasn't a Healer, but she could help. She checked vitals and bandaged wounds and cancelled spells.

"You have to help!" Hermione heard someone call, and turned around. A tall woman came towards her, carrying a young girl. Hermione immediately conjured a bed.

"She's my baby sister," the woman said trough her tears, putting her down. "You have to help her! She won't wake up…"

Hermione reached out to check her pulse with one had and brushed the girl's flaxen hair out of her face with the other. And froze.

"Megan?"

"You know her?"

"She's at my school," Hermione said with a whisper.

"Can you help her?" the sister asked urgently.

"I can't feel a pulse," Hermione said with a whisper, looking into Megan Jones' wide grey eyes. "I'm sorry; it must have been an unforgivable."

Hermione stepped back as the tall woman fell over the lifeless form of Hermione's year mate. Fighting the urge to run away, the urge to throw up and weep, Hermione turned around and continued working.

*

Hermione had no idea how long she'd been at the hospital. She was standing by a patient's bed, slowly checking his vitals. He was one of the few who were going to live.

Suddenly a hand landed on her shoulder. Hermione turned around

"Excuse me, but could you-" He froze. Hermione looked up into a face framed by dark curls.

"Do I know you?" he asked. Hermione slowly shook her head.

"I'm not sure," she said. "You look familiar."

He looked at her intently for half a minute, before shaking himself.

"I was just wondering who you are," he said. "I've seen you around today, helping, but you're not staff."

"I'm Hermione Granger," Hermione said. "I just – I knew I could help."

"And we needed it," he said. "I'm Healer Smethwyck."

"Will?" Hermione asked with a nervous laugh.

*

Though not sure of how long the chaos at St Mungo's had lasted, Hermione knew it was late when she finally grabbed a handful of floo powder and headed back to Grimmauld's Place. As she appeared in the kitchen, she was immediately surrounded by her three friends.

"Where did you go?" Ginny asked hurriedly.

"St Mungo's," Hermione said.

"We followed you," Harry said. "We looked everywhere, but couldn't find you."

"I was in the emergency ward," Hermione said. "I was helping."

"Helping? Helping who?" Ron asked.

"The Healers. I worked there this summer."

"You mean twenty years ago?"

"Yes."

"They let you?" Ginny asked, as she guided Hermione towards the table and sat her down on the bench.

"No one had time to stop me," Hermione said.

"Did you learn anything?" Ron asked. "About the attacks?"

"I did," Hermione said. "Twenty-five families were targeted. They were all muggle families, with one or more children enrolled at Hogwarts. That appears to be the common element."

"How many were killed?"

"There were more than a hundred affected. I'm guessing that over half of them died." She was quiet for a few minutes. "Lavender's dead," Hermione said suddenly. "And Megan Jones. Maverick Runcorn. Sally-Anne Perks. Terry Boot. Hannah Abbot. That's six from our year alone, Harry."

The other three sat down on the bench as well, Ginny hiding her face in her hands, and fell silent.

"Six?" Harry asked after a while, his voice eerily silent and haunted.

"We have to stop this," Ginny said, wiping tears from her face. "We're the only ones that can; we're the only ones that know."

"Alone?" Ron asked. "There are four of us. And how many of them?"

"Doesn't mean we have to give up," Harry said.

"We're not alone," Hermione said. "We have other friends. They want to help you, Harry. They want to help us!"

"No," Harry said immediately. "I won't put them in danger."

"They're already in danger," Ginny said. "And without their help we can't keep them safe. They're Dumbledore's Army, Harry. They'll fight."

"They'll die."

"We all will if we can't stop this," Hermione said. "You're not the only person in this Harry. If you don't take charge, I will. When we return to school, I'm asking them to help us."

"No, you're not," Harry said, standing up.

"You're not the boss of me, Harry," Hermione said. "You're my friend, and I love you, but you're not risking our lives by not doing this."

"She's right," Ginny said. "They're going to be in this anyway! Just look at me. You broke up with me to keep me safe, but here I am anyway. And you can't make me stay away. You can't _make me_ safe. I'm sorry."

Harry looked from Ginny to Hermione and back again before turning to Ron.

"They're right mate," Ron said slowly. "I'm not proposing we share everything about the Horcruxes, that'd just be bloody stupid. But we need help, and the members of the DA are more than willing."

"We're not telling them everything," Ginny said. "That's just put them in unnecessary danger. But eventually, trouble and battle and danger will come to us, to Hogwarts."

"We need to be prepared," Hermione said.

Harry's gaze flitted from friend to friend. "If they die," he said, resigning, "I couldn't …"

"I'm sorry Harry," Hermione said, "But they're dying anyway."

*


	18. Chapter 18

After a late Christmas dinner the four had gone straight to bed, and the next morning they continued to look trough the boxes that had been in storage.

Hermione and Ginny had been trough some of them the previous days without success, leaving half a dozen boxes still unopened. They grabbed one each.

"So, we're looking for a golden locket right?" Ron asked, as he pried the lid off.

"Yes," Hermione said. "It should have Slytherin's mark on it."

"A big, snake-like S," Harry specified.

They worked their way through the four first boxes without much incident, excluding the snapping jewellery-box that almost took Ron's fingers off, and moved on to the last two.

"You do know," Ginny said as she plucked the lid off of one of the boxes, "that if the locket _is_ here, it'll most likely be in the furthest corner in the last box we look in?"

"Close," Harry said as he pulled the heavy ornate locket up from the box he was going through.

The other three gasped and moved closer to Harry.

"It just has to be," Harry breathed, studying the locket.

"How can we know for sure?" Ron asked. "Dumbledore's the only person we know who has identified a Horcrux, and he's …"

Hermione bit her lip. "I know – I know someone. I have to tell you all something, really. Something that could help us." They all looked at her expectantly. "But I can't just _tell _you, I want to _show _you!"

"Is this about the past?" Harry asked in a whisper.

"Very much so," Hermione said with a nervous laugh. "But it's not just about _that_ past. It's about last year, and last summer, as well. _Our _last year."

"I don't understand," Ron said.

"I- I've sort of been keeping a secret. A huge one. And now," Hermione said, biting her lip and keeping her eyes fixed on the locket in Harry's hand, "now it's high time I shared it with you."

"So tell us," Ginny said.

"Can we wait until we're back at Hogwarts at least?" Hermione asked. "I want to show you in a pensieve, and we don't have one here –"

"Yeah, we do," Ron said, interrupting. "There's one in one of the closets upstairs."

"Oh," Hermione said, as Ron jumped up and ran to get it. "I guess we'll do this now then."

Hermione, Harry and Ginny sat in silence while Ron fetched the pensieve.

"I put it in the dining room," he said as he returned. "Call us when you're ready."

Swallowing nervously, Hermione left them. She was totally unprepared for doing this now, for having to tell them all of this now. She would have to tell them everything, and had no idea of how they would react.

She entered the sparsely lit dining room. The pensieve stood on the long table, glowing eerily in the dusky light. Hermione clutched her wand and strode over to it. With her jaw clenched in determination she raised her wand to her head and began _remembering_.

*

Hermione wasn't sure how long she had been in the dining room putting memories in the pensieve, but when she was ready to call for the others they were already in the hall hovering. Now they stood around the pensieve all three of them, strangely frozen in a bent position with their noses touching the shimmering surface.

The first memory took place during the previous Christmas, and she knew Harry would recognize Professor Slughorn's Christmas Party. However, the fact that Hermione had overheard exactly the conversation he had heard between Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape would probably come as a surprise to him. And the fact that Hermione had befriended Draco would be an even greater surprise, to all three of them. That was the first secret of many.

*

_Hermione was staring at the yellowed, old page. This was it. She bit her lip, as she quickly read trough the section one more time. This could actually work. She marked the page with a violet ribbon before closing the book and gathering her things. When she arrived at Madam Pince's desk, she carefully placed the old volume in front of the strict librarian for her to sign it out. The woman eyed Hermione. Although Hermione always took good care of the books, there was always the possibility of Ron or Harry getting their hands on it, as the librarian very well knew, and they didn't take particularly care for the well-being of the ancient paper tomes. With a sniff, Pince noted the title of the book on a piece of parchment, along with Hermione's name and the date. _

"_To be returned in no more than ten days," she said. Hermione nodded and hurriedly left. _

_Knowing Harry to be practicing on the quidditch pitch, Hermione immediately headed towards the Room of Requirements. Crabbe, or Goyle, cleverly concealed with Polyjuice Potion, was easily avoided with a confounding charm and Hermione paced in front of the blank stretch of wall, willing it to open trough her sheer determination of seeing Draco. At her third passing, a door was revealed and Hermione quickly entered._

_Hermione came to a halt the minute she entered the room. Subconsciously, she was expecting to see the room they had used in the D.A., but what she faced was a circular stone room, with at least twenty doors. _

"_Damn his security," Hermione muttered. "Draco!" she bellowed and one of the doors to her left popped open. Still mumbling under her breath, she entered. Her right eye gave an annoyed twitch as she faced a lengthy hallway, with doors running up and down on both sides. She drew breath, but before she could call out, another door opened somewhere down the hall. _

_Thankfully, the room behind that door contained Draco, standing silently in front of a huge cabinet. He turned as she entered, gave her a small wave and then turned his back to her again. _

"_Why is it that your mind demands this level of security?"_

"_Mhm," he said._

"_Draco?"_

"_Mhm."_

"_Draco," Hermione said with a sigh. "Look at this!" She dropped her bag and quickly found the ribbon-marked page in the library book. He broke his gaze away from the wooden cabinet and walked over to her. She handed him the book and pointed at a section on the middle of the first page. He read it and his brow wrinkled._

"_What's this supposed to mean?" he asked._

"_It's a duplication spell, of sorts," Hermione explained. "When this spell is released, a witch or wizard can create a non-permanent duplicate of themselves."_

"_And how can that possibly help me?" Draco asked, propelling Hermione into an explanation._

*

_Draco and Hermione were sitting in Dumbledore's office, waiting. Hermione had spent days talking Draco into coming, and now he looked as though he could bolt any second. The minute they entered, his eyes had jumped all over the room, probably looking for the best ways to escape, possibly noting places to hide and most likely, Hermione had thought with a shudder, looking for weapons. His life had not made him the most trusting of persons._

_The Headmaster entered with a smile and offered them each a lemon drop as he sat down behind his desk. He turned his blue eyes first on Hermione and then on Draco. Then they sat in silence._

"_Draco has something to tell you," Hermione said after a while, nudging Draco with her foot. He sent her a death glare, but bravely begun to speak. He told the Headmaster and Hermione in great detail of what he had been doing since the end of the previous school year. He told them of the events one night during the summer, when he had been brought to Voldemort and the Dark Mark had been burned into his flesh. He rose then to pull up the left sleeve of his robe and reveal the mark on his forearm, in stark contrast against his pale skin. Hermione had involuntarily given a shudder and she had seen something horrible in the old Headmasters eyes, as he looked upon what had been inflicted upon one of his students. _

_Draco retold, in great detail, the last Death Eater meeting he had attended, when Voldemort had ordered him to kill. _

_He had tried several times already, Draco had said. Some of his attempt had made other victims and he was sorry, but if his plan, the one he had had from the beginning, succeeded, it would far surpass his earlier attempts. By using the Vanishing Cabinet, which he had been trying, in secret, to fix all year, he would bring Death Eaters to Hogwarts. _

_Draco fell silent. The Headmaster's eyes were fixed upon him and Hermione was surprised to find that he didn't seem surprised at all. She had always known that the old man seemed to know more that he was supposed to about what happened at the school, but how could he possible have known about this? _

_But then Hermione thought of something and she looked up into Dumbledore's eyes._

"_Professor Snape," she said. "He told you." The Headmaster nodded. Draco looked shocked._

"_You knew?" he asked. "You knew and you didn't do anything about it? Why?"_

"_I have many reasons," the old man said. "I will tell you one. If anyone but suspected that I knew of it, or tried to talk to you about it, your life would be in grave danger." _

"_But Headmaster," Hermione said. "You couldn't have-"_

"_Miss Granger, under no circumstance would I have let Mr Malfoy complete his assignment. I have made arrangements."_

"_Arrangements?" Draco asked, "What kind of arrangements?"_

"_If ever you succeeded in getting backup and were prepared to do your duty in order to save yourself and your family, someone else would step in and do your job. Voldemort will not make one of my students take a life." _

_Draco nodded numbly._

"_But," Hermione asked, "Who would - ah."_

"_What?" Draco asked. "Who?"_

"_Professor Snape," Hermione said in a whisper. Dumbledore nodded._

"_That is correct. He has no choice, I'm afraid. In order to gain trust, he made an Unbreakable Vow with your mother, Mr Malfoy."_

"_My mother?" Draco asked in a weak voice, and the Headmaster nodded again._

"_There is no other way, I'm afraid," he said._

"_But there is!" Hermione exclaimed and pulled the aged library book out of her bag. "It would be complicated," she said, "but possible."_

_The Headmaster leaned forward in anticipation, wondering what her brilliant mind had planned. And he had hope, for the first time in nearly a year. Maybe he could come out of this affair breathing, after all._

*

_Hermione was in one of the Headmasters private rooms, working on the project that might just save his life. She was the only one in the room, except from Fawkes, who was sitting on a perch watching her._

_She was trying to capture the necessary spell in a magically constructed orb, but found that it was hard to fashion a perfect sphere with bare hands. Her hands were glazed in a golden liquid and she was trapping a pulsating spell between her hands. Or trying to trap it. And if she couldn't manage to create a perfectly round globe, it would simply escape as she let it go. At the moment, the only thing keeping the spell in place was her own natural magic and she was rapidly growing tired. Her hands were circling around the spell, rubbing on the potion as it set in the air around it, trying to mould it into shape. _

_Just as she was about to let the spell go, Fawkes trilled a little note and the golden liquid froze into a ball. Amazed, Hermione let her hands drop, glad to see the ball still suspended in the air. The pulsating white light of the spell could be seen trough the glazed gold of the ball. Hermione carefully wiped the potions remains of her hands, before plucking the golden orb out of the air. It was the size of a cricket ball, but weighed considerably less. With a smile, she placed it in a small box and put the box in her bag._

"_Thanks," she said, as she stroked the golden bird and left the room._

_The Headmaster was sitting behind the desk in his office, reading a letter, but as Hermione entered, he put it away._

"_Did you do it?" he asked with interest. Hermione nodded and retrieved the box. She placed it in front of him. He opened it carefully and coaxed the golden orb out. It hovered in the air in front of him as he observed it. _

"_There are several spell inside this," he observed._

"_The duplicate, as well as a Finite Incantatem," Hermione said. "It'll work as a confirmation, as it is what will be expected in connection with your death. All of your recent spells will be cancelled out when your duplicate 'dies'." Dumbledore observed her with a twinkle in his eyes._

"_Perfect handiwork, Miss Granger," he said as he carefully let the sphere descend back into its box._

"_I wish I could take credit for it, Headmaster," she said, "but I owe it all to Fawkes."_

"_Yes, the bird has a certain knack for these things," Dumbledore said fondly. "What remains to be done?"_

"_I'll have to connect it to you," Hermione said. "And I'll need something to release it."_

"_How do you connect it?" _

"_It needs to be linked specifically to your magical core. The process is easy. I'll need you to hold it up in front of you," Hermione said and pulled out her wand. The Headmaster obeyed and Hermione pointed her wand directly at the sphere. With her lips firmly sealed, she voiced the incantation only on her mind. For a second everything was silent and Hermione feared she had failed, but then a beam of golden light sprouted from her wand. It shot into the sphere and it was filled with golden light for just a second before it exited on the other side, shooting straight into Dumbeldore's chest, engulfing him in golden light. Another beam shot out from the Headmasters chest, this one blue, and back into the orb. Everything gleamed with white light for a second, before slowly fading. As the Headmaster put the orb back in the box, she noted that it now appeared to be made of something akin to glass. They had succeeded in locking the spell to Dumbledore._

_Hermione sighed in relief. "I hoped it would work."_

"_You hoped?" The Headmaster asked, with a twinkle in his eye. Hermione gave a shrug and pocketed her wand._

"_Is there any way for me to quickly get in contact with Fawkes?" she asked, as let the box containing the orb drop into her bag._

"_Why?" _

"_He'd be ideal for releasing the spell," Hermione said._

"_We'll find a way, Miss Granger, we'll find a way."_

*

Hermione sighed impatiently. This would take hours. The checked her watched, and sighed yet again as she realised how little time had passed. Eying her three friends, still solidly frozen around the shimmering pensieve, she quietly slipped out of the room.

She went up to Harry's room where she penned a quick note to Draco and sent it with Hedwig to Hogwarts. She had no idea what Harry would do once he found out about everything, and had to make sure Draco and everything at Hogwarts was in order in case they hastily floo'd there.

Continuing down to the kitchen she grabbed a quick snack from Dobby before throwing a pinch of floo powder in the fire place and stepping in.

Seconds later she was in St Mungos. The scene she now faced was dramatically different from when she was last there. The dozens upon dozens of wounded, killed and next of kin were gone; the flurry of activity silenced. It was Christmas, and only a few visitors could be seen.

She wandered around the building for a while, before suddenly realising she had wandered into the area where the healers had their offices. She looked closer at the door she was standing in front of and realised the plaque read 'Smethwyck'. But it wasn't Hermione's friend from the past, but rather his father – an elderly healer who had worked in the hospital since before the Second World War. But Will's door wasn't far away.

Before she quite knew what she had done, Hermione knocked on the door. She held her breath, almost hoping no one would open the door. But in a few seconds it popped open with a smooth squeak. Hermione entered, and closed the door behind her.

"Hi Will," she said with a small smile.

"Hermione," he said. "Or should I say Lea? I didn't think you'd be back so soon."

After she had helped the survivors of the attacks, Hermione had run into Will. She had let it slip that she knew him, and it hadn't taken him long to find out who she was. He had asked her to come back some time. After all, there weren't that many witches or wizards who had spent a year in the past.

"I had some free time, and just wanted to stop by."

He smiled, and she dropped into a chair.

"You talked about some tests?"

He nodded. "Yes. I'm just curious, really, about how your stay in the past has affected you."

"Well, I have a couple of hours," Hermione said with a humourless laugh, "and I'm all yours."

*

Hermione had stayed at St. Mungo's longer than she had intended, so when she came back to Grimmauld's Place she hurried to the dining room. But as soon as she opened the door she realised there was no haste. Harry, Ron and Ginny were still frozen around the pensieve, their minds a million miles away.

She sighed. She went upstairs to fetch one of her school books for something to read, and settled down in the dining room to wait for her secrets to be revealed.

*

_It was the very end of May and Draco was as close as he could get to having fixed the vanishing cabinet. The two of them, Draco and Hermione, were sitting in a cosier version of the Room of Requirement, on a plush couch. _

"_Are you ready?" Hermione asked and he nodded. They had fairly quickly decided that Draco's memory would have to be edited. It would not do for him to face Voldemort, a highly accomplished Legilimens, with fond memories of Gryffindor's favourite Muggle Born in his mind. Hermione had simply refused to perform the Memory Charm on him, so they needed to resort to other means. Luckily, Dumbledore had lent them his pensieve and a clever book about memory charms. _

_Hermione locked eyes with Draco and brought the tip of her wand to his temple. She concentrated, with every fibre of her being, on everything in his mind, from the past months, connected with her and he did the same. And as she slowly pulled the wand away from him, a thick, silvery strand was attached to the tip of it. Draco sat as in a daze as she let the strand sink into the bowl, making vague images of the two of them float to the surface._

_Soon Hermione had every memory concerning herself and their plan stored in the pensieve. Very unlike usual pensieve-use, Hermione had used a spell that removed the memories in their entirety. This made them considerably easier to retrieve, as well as left less traces to be found of their removal for a prodding legilimens to find._

_Before Draco had the chance to shake himself after the memory loss Hermione stunned him. He slumped back on the couch and she pointed her wand at him again. _

_She wove intricate patterns over his seemingly lifeless form and sent strings of yellow light towards him and watched, as they were absorbed into him. This simple, but almost undetectable, charm, would work as a substitute for the memories she had just removed. What was ingenious about it was that, since the brain itself believed it to be true, anyone who tried to 'read' the mind would be fooled as well. You could hardly catch someone in lying, if they wholly believed what they told you. Hermione poured the memory from the penesieve into a small, glass jar and put the stopper in before carefully slipping it into her bag. She flicked her wand and pulled a blanket out of thin air. She draped it gently over Draco's unmoving form and carefully swept his light hair out of his face. She shouldered her bag, picked up the penesieve and, with a last glance at the boy on the couch, left the room._

_When she next saw him, he would be as a stranger to her. No fond memory of her would be left in his mind. And he would summon the Death Eaters to Hogwarts and the two of them would be on opposite sides and there was no certainty of walking out of it alive. If Dumbledore's plan failed, if Snape wasn't able to step in front of Draco, claiming the life of the old Headmaster, Draco would be looked upon as the one who killed one of the best loved, or most hated, depended on how you looked upon it, men in Wizarding England. Someone would have to take the blame, Hermione thought, even though the plan hopefully would keep the old man alive. Harry and the rest of the ones who followed him would need someone to blame as long as they believed Dumbledore dead. And Draco, who would wake in ten minutes or so, would see himself as that person._

_And if she ever wanted Draco back, she would have to pull him from the clutches of Voldemort himself and somehow convince him to accept his memories back._

*


	19. Chapter 19

Harry, Ron and Ginny were frozen in place, bent over the pensieve. Hermione was studying. Occasionally she would tip-toe over to them and peek into the bowl to try and read from the ghostly images where in the story they were. During her last trip they had reached a very familiar night.

The battle of June.

*

_Hermione was a nervous wreck. _

_Harry had left the school with Dumbledore hours ago and she was down in the cold dungeons, pacing back and forth in the hall outside Professor Snape's quarters with Luna Lovegood, of all people. The small sip of Felix Felicis did little to sooth her stressed mind. _

_The golden orb, safely kept within its velvet-lined box, was resting in one of the pockets of her robe. One of Fawkes' feathers had been fastened to a necklace and was now hidden under her shirt. _

_Suddenly Professor Flitwick came running down the hall shouting about Death Eaters and flew straight into Professor Snape' quarters. Hermione and Luna looked at each other, not quite sure what to do. _

"_What are they saying?" Hermione asked Luna, who was edging towards the door._

"_Flitwick's asking Snape to come back up with him to help them fight."_

_Not long after, Snape left his rooms in a hurry, but stopped abruptly as he saw them. He said something Hermione couldn't quite catch, something about Flitwick passing out, but she had fastened her eyes on his face. His eyes, deviously dark in the barely-lit corridor, were smartly avoiding hers._

_She knew that when she let him pass he would join the Death Eaters. He would kill Dumbledore. She knew that he knew nothing about what she had planned along with the Headmaster. He would believe, along with the rest of the wizarding world, that he had killed one of the greatest men this world had ever produced. _

_But if she stood her ground, willing him not to pass, she would be handing the assignment to Draco. _

_She knew that there was a chance now, more than it had been only a few months ago, of the Headmaster walking out of this business alive, but no one knew that. Only Hermione knew. And the Headmaster. Not even Draco knew, now that she had wiped his memory clean. _

_And Hermione knew, knew oh-so-well, that she would have to let him pass. She was even aware of the fact that Luna, good, old Loony Luna, had already stepped aside to let him pass, believing him to be a Professor in which she could lay her trust._

_And Hermione bit her lip and followed the choice she had made, the result of the hardest decision she had ever made in her entire life. _

_She stepped aside to let him pass._

_And as she watched his cloaked shape practically running down the hall away from them, she felt something shatter within herself._

*

_Hermione had sent Luna up to the Hospital Wing with Professor Flitwick and remained alone in the dungeons. She pulled out the golden phoenix-feather and clutched it in her fist. Only seconds later, Fawkes appeared in a burst of flame and whistled a couple of soothing tones. She stroked his back gently._

"_Do you know where to go?" she asked him and he turned around to let her grasp his tail feathers. Flames engulfed them and when they reappeared Hermione found that she had been transported to a place just outside the castle walls. She looked up and saw a tower above them. The green Dark Mark was strung in the air above it, faintly illuminating, painting everything with a sickly green sheen. _

_Silently thanking the Weasley twins, Hermione pulled a flesh-coloured string from her pocket and sent it flying into the air with a flick of her wand. It attached itself firmly just at the edge of the tower wall and when Hermione put the other end into her ear, she could her voices, so clear that it was as if they were standing right beside her. _

"_My options?" she heard Draco practically shout, "I'm standing here with a wand – I'm about to kill you –" It was as if an iron fist was clenched around Hermione's heart and her hand plunged into her pocket in search of the box that kept the golden orb._

"_My dear boy," Dumbledore said next, "let us have no more pretence about that. If you were going to kill me, you would have done it when you first Disarmed me, you would not have stopped for this pleasant chat about ways and means." _

"_I haven't got any options! I've got to do it! He'll kill me! He'll kill my whole family!" Draco's voice was hysteric now._

"_I appreciate the difficulty of your position. Why else do you think I have not confronted you before now?" Dumbledore said, and Hermione clutched the Extendable Ears so not to miss a single word. "Because I knew that you would have been murdered if Lord Voldemort realised that I suspected you. I did not dare speak to you of the mission with which I knew you had been entrusted, in case he used Legilimency against you. But now at last we can speak plainly to each other … no harm has been done, you have hurt nobody, though you are very lucky that your unintentional victims survived … I can help you, Draco." Please, please, please, Hermione chanted in her head, let him help you Draco, turn to him now, when you have no comforting memories of us in you head, show them you would do it, please Draco-_

"_No you can't," Draco said. "Nobody can. He told me to do it or he'll kill me. I've got no choice."_

"_Come over to the right side, Draco," Dumbledore said and Hermione echoed it in her head, as she finally managed to wring the box out of her pocket, "We can hide you more completely than you can possibly imagine." And I truly intend to, Hermione mumbled. "What is more, I can send members of the Order to you mother tonight to hide her likewise. Your father is safe at the moment in Azkaban … when the time comes we can protect him too … come over to the right side, Draco … you are not a killer …"_

"_But I got this far, didn't I?" Draco said and Hermione felt a chill run down her spine, as she hurriedly opened the lid and pulled out the faintly shimmering ball, "They thought I'd die in the attempt, but I'm here … and you're in my power … I'm the one with the wand … you're at my mercy …"_

"_No, Draco, it is my mercy, and not yours, that matters now." And Hermione was prepared to release the magic in the air at these words, fearing that Draco might do this on his own and not even letting Snape have a chance of interfering._

_But suddenly someone spoke, a voice Hermione did not understand and she realised someone else must have appeared at the tower. "Dumbledore wandless, Dumbledore alone!" It said. "Well done, Draco, well done!"_

"_Good evening, Amycus," Dumbledore said and Hermione filed the name of the Death Eater in her mind for future reference. "And you've brought Alecto too … charming …"_

"_Think your little jokes'll help you on your death bed, then?" a woman's voice asked._

"_Jokes? No, no, these are manners," Dumbledore said and Hermione gave a silent snort of laughter, despite the strangeness of the situation._

"_Do it," said a third, in a voice so dark and rasping that Hermione involuntarily shuddered._

"_Is that you, Fenrir?" Dumbledore asked, and Hermione suddenly remembered the name Draco had mentioned in Borgin and Burkes, way back at the end of the summer vacation._

"_That's right," the rasping voice said. "Pleased to see me, Dumbledore?"_

"_No, I cannot say that I am …"_

"_But you know how much I like kids, Dumbledore."_

"_Am I to take it that you are attacking even without the full moon now?" Dumbedore asked and Hermione would have dropped to the ground with the information, had not Fawkes perched himself on her shoulder, gently grasping her with his talons. A mad, Death Eater werewolf, who loved children, was loose in Hogwarts? "This is most unusual … you have developed a taste for human flesh that cannot be satisfied once a month?"_

"_That's right. Shocks you, that, does it, Dumbledore? Frightens you?"_

"_Well, I cannot pretend it does not disgust me a little. And, yes, I am a little shocked that Draco here invited you, of all people, into the school where his friends live …"_

"_I didn't," Draco said and Hermione felt a pang of relief. "I didn't know he was going to come –"_

"_I wouldn't wasn't to miss a trip to Hogwarts, Dumbledore, not when there are throats to be ripped out … delicious, delicious … I could do you for afters, Dumbledore …"_

"_No," said a fourth voice. "We've got orders. Draco's got to do it. Now, Draco and quickly." Hermione fumbled with the orb, fearful that she might be too late, but Fawkes stopped her with a nudge against her head._

"_He's not long for this world anyway, if you ask me!" said the first of the Death Eater voices. "Look at him – what's happened to you, then, Dumby?"_

"_Oh, weaker resistance, slower reflexes, Amycus. Old age, in short … one day, perhaps, it will happen to you ... if you are lucky."_

"_What's that mean, than, what's that mean? Always the same, weren't yeh, Dumby, talking and doing nothing, nothing. I don't even know why the Dark Lord's bothering to kill yeh! Come on, Draco, do it!"_

_But suddenly a voice Hermione knew shouted from somewhere that sounded far away, "They've blocked the stairs – Reducto! REDUCTO!" _

_She wasn't sure if she reacted to Fawkes scraping her arm with his talons or to her own instinct, but as everything turned to chaos for the briefest second she hurled the glassy sphere into the air, glad to see it cloak itself in darkness as it rose. She hoped that Tonks, who had done the shouting, had distracted them long enough for Hermione to pull this off. Fawkes let out a soft trill and a soft whoosh sounded form above as a body came tumbling down to them. Hermione whipped out her wand and stopped the body inches before it hit the ground. She swallowed, as she saw the still body of Dumbledore hovering above the ground. Fawkes slowly rose from her shoulder and landed on Dumbledore. Hermione grasped Fred and Georges Extendable Ears and listened intently._

"_Now, Draco, quickly!" _

"_I'll do it," snarled the werewolf._

"_I said no!" someone shouted and a flash of light gleamed up on the tower. Hermione felt a pang of relief. It would seem that her plan had worked._

"_Draco, do it, or stand aside so one of us –" the female shouted, but then there was a pang and silence._

"_We've got a problem, Snape," someone said and Hermione felt her heart skip a beat, "The boy doesn't seem able –" _

"_Severus …" she heard whispered trough the string and she saw Dumbledore's lips move. She grasped Dumbledore's cloak and pulled him with her until they were up against the castle walls._

"_Severus … please …" Hermione didn't notice the tears that poured down her face, as she grasped Fawkes' tail feathers._

"_Avada Kedavra!" she heard and vanished in a puff of flame._

*

_Fawkes brought them – her and Dumbledore – to the room Dumbledore had appointed for himself barely a week ago. Hermione had told him of the Marauder's Map, although she had a feeling he knew about it already, and he had promised that neither the room, or it's inhabitants, would show up. With Fawkes' help, she placed Dumbledore in the bed. He seemed to be unconscious and beads of sweat were pearling on his forehead. Hermione didn't know what he had gone trough earlier in the night, but creating a double of oneself and trying to maintain it while the Avada Kedavra was demolishing it, was draining. She suspected that Dumbledore would be incapacitated at least until the funeral. Only when his duplicate was removed, could he begin the process of recovery. Hermione absentmindedly snapped her fingers and a small House Elf appeared by her side._

"_Hello, Winky," Hermione said. "This is your master, tend to him!" Winky nodded and stepped over to the ancient man. _

_Hermione had made arrangements with Winky a week ago. She was the one who was in most desperate need of a private master and also the one who would be least missed among the others. Hermione saw that only a week in anticipation of a master had done the small elf more good than three years of service in the Hogwarts kitchens had. She had cleaned her clothes, Hermione saw, and was now cleaning the Headmaster attentively. _

"_This better work," Hermione mumbled and grasped Fawke's tail for the third time. He flamed her to a rarely used hall not far from the Hospital Wing and whistled a few tones of encouragement before he disappeared. Hermione took a deep breath and schooled her features into that of fear and worry before storming down the hall and into the Hospital Wing. Luna gave a happy, teary yell as she saw Hermione and ran towards her and hugged her almost violently._

"_I'm fine, Luna, I'm fine," Hermione mumbled and awkwardly patted the girl on the head. "How are you? How's everybody else?" _

"_They've just brought in Bill Weasley," Luna said with a sob. "Oh, he's a mess, Hermione!"_

"_What?"_

"_He was attacked!" Luna said. "By a werewolf! And it's not even full moon!" Hermione broke loose from the blonde girl and ran towards Madam Pomfrey, who was leaning over a figure on a bed at the far end of the room. Red hair was gleaming against the white linen. Just as she reached the bed, she stopped in shock. Flesh was hanging limply from his face and there was blood all over. There was nothing in his features that reminded Hermione of the handsome man she had first met at the Burrow almost three years ago. Madam Pomfrey glanced briefly at Hermione, her face emotionless as she spelled every sliver of flesh back onto Bill face. _

"_How's –" Hermione begun, "how's he doing?"_

"_I'm not sure," the nurse said. "He was attacked by a werewolf, but since it's not full moon, I'm not sure about what the after-affects will be."_

"_But his face," Hermione said, "can't you do anything about it?"_

"_Not with werewolf wounds, Miss Granger," Pomfrey said., "Now, step aside, please." Hermione did and walked back to Luna, as if in a daze. Not long after, the doors banged open and Ginny and Tonks came in, carrying Neville between them._

"_Neville!" Hermione exclaimed. "Is he alright?" Tonks shrugged, as she helped Ginny place him in the closest bed. _

"_We'll need Madam Pomfrey for that," she said._

"_She's … busy," Hermione said and pointed shakily towards Bill's bed. Tonks scrunched her eyebrows as she focused. Her face paled as she recognized the figure._

"_Oh no, what happened?" _

"_The werewolf got him." Hermione said._

"_Greyback? But it's not even full moon!"_

"_What?" Ginny asked and walked towards Madam Pomfrey. "Can't she come over to help Neville?" _

"_Gin," Hermione said, trying to get in her way, "I don't think it's a good idea for you to go over there just now –"_

"_But she's got to help Neville! Who's she got there anyway?"_

"_Ginny, please, stop!" Hermione pleaded and Ginny stopped. But she looked over Hermione's shoulder at the figure in the bed. _

"_Who is it?" she asked, as her eyes trailed along the length of bed she saw behind Madam Pomfrey. And then the nurse stepped aside and Ginny viewed in full the bloody face and the brilliantly red hair on the pillow._

"_No, no!" She screamed and tried to brush past Hermione, who clung to her holdimg her back. "Bill! No! Hermione, let me go, it's Bill!"_

"_I know," Hermione said, "But you've got to let Madam Pomfrey work!" Tonks came running and brought Ginny, screaming, back to Neville's bed._

"_Calm down, Ginny," Hermione pleaded._

"_What happened to him?" Ginny demanded, with tears streaming from her brown eyes._

"_He got attacked by a Death Eater, Greyback, a werewolf," Hermione said._

"_But its not even full moon," Ginny said in protest as Tonks pulled her down to sit on the bed next to Neville._

"_But Greyback is still a werewolf. Madam Pomfrey's not sure what'll happen to him."_

"_But," Ginny said in a whisper, "what about his face? He doesn't look like Bill anymore! She can do something about that, can't she?" Hermione bit her lip._

"_We don't know, Gin," she said. "Probably not. Werewolf bites can't be cured, remember?" And Ginny broke into tears. Luna rushed to her side as Hermione and Tonks stepped aside. _

_The next one to walk into the hospital wing was Remus Lupin, and Hermione rushed towards him._

"_Professor!" she exclaimed. "It's Bill. Greyback attacked him!" Remus paled and sprinted towards the nurse. Hermione watched as the two of them discussed something and then saw that Madam Pomfrey came over to them, while Remus remained. The nurse quickly checked Hermione, Ginny and Tonks with a sweep across each of them with her wand, before turning to Neville._

"_How's Bill?" Ginny asked after a couple of minutes. _

"_He'll live," Madam Pomfrey said and they lapsed into silence again. Not long afterwards, McGonagall came trough the doors with Ron in tow and Ginny ran towards him with a strangled cry and wrapped her arms around his neck. Ron hugged his sister tightly, but sent Hermione a look over her shoulder. Hermione mouthed 'Bill' and gestured towards Bill's bed at the end of the room. Ron paled dramastically and easily picked Ginny up in his arms. She clung desperately to him as he carried her over to the others. He sat down on the bed with Ginny in his lap. McGonagall followed them._

"_Everyone is to remain in the Hospital Wing. Is that clear?" Everyone nodded and the Deputy Headmistress walked down to join Remus by Bill's bed. _

"_What happened?" he asked over her head._

"_Bill got attacked by a werewolf," Tonks said._

"_But its not full moon," Ron said._

"_Yeah," Tonks said, "that's the strange thing."_

"_Will he be alright?"_

"_Madam Pomfrey thinks so," Hermione said. "But he won't look the same. Greyback practically tore his face off." They sat in silence for a while, watching Madam Pomfrey check Neville, or trying to figure out what Remus and McGonagall were discussing at the end of the room. _

"_How's Flitwick?" Hermione asked._

"_He's fine," Luna said. "He was a bit shaky, but insisted on going up to the Ravenclaws."_

"_How's Neville?" Ron asked Madam Pomfrey. _

"_He'll be fine," the nurse said. "He was just knocked out."_

_Suddenly Ginny sat up and brushed her tears away._

"_Where's Harry?" she asked. Hermione and Ron's eyes locked. He pulled the Marauders Map from his pocket and Hermione quickly opened it with the proper words and a tap of her wand. Ginny quickly scanned the piece of parchment and strode from the Hospital Wing without another word. No one thought to stop her. _

_Madam Pomfrey, with Luna's help, managed to pour some Dreamless Sleep Potion into Neville's mouth and then they all walked over to Remus, McGonagall and Bill._

"_Where's Miss Weasley?" McGonagall asked._

"_She went to find Harry," Ron said. They all stood in silence, as Madam Pomfrey brought out a bottle of green liquid and began dabbing it on Bill's barely patched up face._

*

_The next time the doors to the Hospital Wing opened, Ginny and Harry were revealed. Hermione ran towards them and hugged Harry fiercely._

"_Are you all right, Harry?" Remus asked as Hermione let him go._

"_I'm fine … how's Bill?" When nobody answered, Harry looked over Hermione's shoulder, to see for himself what had happened to Bill. "Can't you fix them with a charm or something?" he asked Madam Pomfrey, indicating the wounds all over Bill's face._

"_No charm will work on these," the nurse said. "I've tried everything I know, but there's no cure for werewolf bites."_

"_But he wasn't bitten at the full moon," Ron said. "Greyback hadn't transformed, so surely Bill won't be a – a real –?"_

"_No, I don't think that Bill will be a true werewolf," Remus said. "But that doesn't mean that there won't be some contamination. Those are cursed sounds. They are unlikely ever to heal fully and – and Bill might have some wolfish characteristics from now on."_

"_Dumbledore might know something that'd work, though," Ron said and Hermione felt a pang in her chest and saw Harry pale., "Where is he? Bill fought those maniacs on Dumbledore's orders, Dumbledore owes him, he can't leave him in this state –"_

"_Ron –" Ginny said, interrupting him, "Dumbledore's dead."_

"_No!" Remus exclaimed and looked from Ginny to Harry. When Harry didn't say anything, Lupin collapsed into the chair next to Bill's bed._

"_How did he die?" Tonks asked. "How did it happen?"_

"_Snape killed him," Harry said and Hermione saw how the lie begun to unfold. The terrible thing was that no one knew it was a lie but her. "I was there, I saw it. We arrived back on the Astronomy Tower because that's where the Mark was … Dumbledore was ill, he was weak, but I think he realised it was a trap when we heard footsteps running up the stairs. He immobilised me, I couldn't do anything. I was under the Invisibility Cloak – and then Malfoy came trough the door and Disarmed him –" Hermione automatically clapped her hands to her mouth, as she heard the tale she had briefly caught trough the Extendable Ears._

"– _more Death Eaters arrived – and then Snape – and Snape did it. The Avada Kedavra." Madam Pomfrey burst into tears as Harry broke off._

"_Shh! Listen!" Ginny whispered and they all did. Softly, from somewhere outside, they could hear Fawkes singing. A beautiful lament in honour of his master. When McGonagall entered the Hospital Wing, it was almost as if they had been standing there forever, listening._

"_Molly and Arthur are on their way," she said and they all turned back to Bill._

"_Harry, what happened?" Professor McGonagall asked. "According to Hagrid you were with Professor Dumbledore when he – when it happened. He says Professor Snape was involved in some –"_

"_Snape killed Dumbledore," Harry said, causing McGonnall to promptly drop into a chair Madam Pomfrey conjured up under her._

"_Snape. We all wondered … but he trusted … always … _Snape_ … I can't believe it …"_

"_Snape was a highly accomplished Occlumens," Remus said, "we always knew that."_

"_But Dumbledore swore he was on out side," Tonks said in a whisper. "I always thought Dumbledore must know something about Snape that we didn't …"_

"_He always hinted that he had an iron-clad reason for trusting Snape," McGonagall muttered, wiping her eyes with her tartan handkerchief. "I mean … with Snape's history … of course people were bound to wonder … but Dumbledore told me explicitly that Snape's repentance was absolutely genuine … wouldn't hear a word against him!"_

"_I'd love to know what Snape had told him to convince him," Tonks said._

"_I know," Harry said and everyone turned to stare at him, including Hermione. She had never heard Dumbledore's reason for trusting Snape and was surprised that Harry knew it. "Snape passed Voldemort the information that made Voldemort hunt down my mum and dad. Then Snape told Dumbledore he hadn't realised what he was doing, he was really sorry he'd done it, sorry they were dead."_

"_And Dumbledore believed that? Dumbledore believed Snape was sorry Jamese was dead?" Snape _hated_ James …"_

"_And he didn't think my mother was worth a damn, either, Harry said, "because she was a Muggle-born … 'Mudblood', he called her …"_

_And they all launched into explanation of why it was all their fault that they had trusted Snape, that it was their fault Dumbledore had died. McGonagall blamed herself for sending Flitwick to fetch Snape and when they, in great detail, began telling what happened during the battle, they each in turn, more or less, took blame for letting Snape pass. Hermione was only vaguely paying attention and was feeling slightly ill. She was keeping a great secret and while the others grieved for the loss of Dumbledore, she grieved for letting them feel that loss._

"_So if Ron was watching the Room of Requirement with Ginny and Neville," Harry said, turning towards Hermione, "were you –?"_

"_Outside Snape's office, yes, with Luna," Hermione whispered, feeling tears prickle in her eyes, as she thought of everything that had happened. "We hung around for ages outside it and nothing happened … we didn't know what was going on upstairs, Ron had taken the Marauder's Map … it was nearly midnight when Professor Flitwick came sprinting down into the dungeons. He was shouting about Death Eaters in the castle, I don't think he really registered that Luna and I were there at all, he just burst his way into Snape's office and we heard him saying that Snape had to go back with him and help and then we heard a loud thump and Snape came hurtling out of his room and he saw us and – and – I was so stupid, Harry!" Hermione said, drawing on all the fear and the raging emotions she had felt as she stood down in the dungeon, facing Snape. "He said Professor Flitwick had collapsed and that we should take care of him while he – while he went to help fight the Death Eaters. We went into his office to see if we could help Professor Flitwick and found him uncurious on the floor … and, oh, it's so obvious now, Snape must have Stupified Flitwick, but we didn't realise, Harry we didn't realise, we just let Snape go!" Hermione dropped into an unoccupied chair and covered her face with trembling hands as the other continued to go trough what had happened during the night._

*

Hermione jumped as the figures of her friends bent over the pensieve suddenly began to stir. They had been still for so long. They straightened themselves, and, as one, turned to look at her. She wasn't sure who spoke first, later she could never remember.

"Dumbledore is _alive_?"

*


	20. Chapter 20

Hermione was still in the dining room. After Ron, Harry and Ginny had returned from their trip to Hermione's memories they had reacted according to their instincts. Ginny had erupted in a fiery anger (much like her mum would have Hermione though), reacting so hotly Hermione could barely understand the words Ginny were flinging at her. Ron was simmering with the same anger, but seemed content to shout out the odd agreement to whatever his sister was saying. Harry had given her a spine-chilling stare and left the room, slamming the door behind him. And as soon as Ginny ran out of steam the two Weasleys left her as well.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been alone in the room, and jumped when someone spoke.

"I'm not mad at you."

Giving a small squeak, Hermione spun around.

"Harry!"

"I mean – I _am_. But I'm not. You're _you_, Hermione. And most of the time you do the right thing. I'm just struggling a bit trying to remember that."

"Oh, Harry, I wanted to tell you so many times!"

"I'm sure you did," Harry said with what almost looked like a smile. "But you didn't. And that's what hurts the most, I think. And don't get me wrong – or Ginny and Ron. We're real glad you did what you did, or at least we will be, 'cause it means Dumbledore's alive. He is alive, right?"

"Yes," Hermione said. "Very much so. He's been at Hogwarts all along, hidden away, healing."

"Healing?"

"Of course!"

"I- I just don't understand what happened to him, Hermione," Harry said with a sigh as he sat down in one of the dining room chairs. "I've seen it, but I don't understand it. Not really."

"Oh." Hermione sat down as well. "It's a forgotten spell, really. Out of use, out of mind... It was designed by a wizard in Ancient Greece. His name is lost, but the spell lived on for a couple of centuries. It was used as a decoy, for people who needed to disappear. For kings fleeing a poorly ruled country, I expect." Hermione glanced at Harry to see if he understood. "It's somewhat complicated, which is why I trapped it instead of casting it at the spot. That was Dumbledore's idea. When I released the spell it created a duplicate of its designed target – Dumbledore."

"And that's who – or rather what – was killed that night?" Harry asked.

"Yes. Only it took a lot of Dumbeldore's strength and magic to ... well, keep up appearances, sort of. The duplicate had to remain in existence until the burial, taxing him enormously. And he was on the brink of death that night already!"

"The potion? From the cave?"

"Yes. I still have no idea what it was, and the first time I went to see him ... I thought he was dying. Actually dying this time. But Winky, she ... I have no idea what she did to him, but it worked. And with only the spell I inflicted upon him he would still need ages to heal! And with the curse from the Horcrux on his arm, and the potion he ingested … I've got to admit – it was a close call."

Harry sighed again, nodded and stood up.

"Let's go see the others."

Hermione swallowed heavily and followed him out the door.

They walked in silence, heading for the kitchen in the basement. Harry went down first, and Hermione peeked around him and saw the two redheads sitting at the table eating a stew.

"What is she doing here?" Ron spat as Hermione entered the room, jumping up from his seat and leaving the room.

Hermione bit her lip, and slid down in the seat he had vacated. Dobby hurried over with a bowl full of food, whisking Ron's bowl away in the process.

"Never mind him," Ginny said, no trace of her earlier anger in her voice. "He'll come 'round."

"And you?" Hermione asked, dipping her spoon into the stew. She stuffed a spoonful into her mouth, and turned around. "This is great, Dobby!" she said with a smile to the small elf by the stove.

"I'm over it," Ginny said, prompting Hermione to turn back.

"Really?"

"Yeah – I mean, we've only really ended up better off. Dumbledore's alive! That's amazing! And what you did, it was for the best, really."

"You think so?"

"I know so," Ginny said. "None of us would have been able to think of any of the stuff you did, and none of us would have though of teaming up with Malfoy!"

"Yeah, about Malfoy," Harry said, "where is he? Did he ever get his memories back?"

Hermione laughed nervously.

"That laugh is sort of scary you know, coming from you," Harry said and dug into his stew.

0o0o

The Christmas Holiday was almost over, and Hermione hadn't spoken to Ron since he'd seen her memories in the pensieve. He would flee the room whenever she entered, and generally avoid her. Hermione didn't know what to do, except leave him alone. She knew Harry and Ginny were talking to him, but she also knew they had gotten nowhere.

The house was quiet today. Harry and Ginny was out for a walk, so Hermione was sure she and Ron were the only ones in the house. She hadn't seen him all day, so she searched trough the entire building from the kitchen in the cellar to the storage room in the attic. No Ron anywhere.

She headed back downstairs and into the sitting room. The pensieve was still there. Harry and Ginny had taken another look accompanied by Hermione, allowing her to fill them in on some of the details they might have missed. She sat down by the table and began stirring slowly in the liquid-like substance in the shallow stone bowl. Occasionally a memory would float to the surface and she would pull it up from the rest, observing the small figures from her past as they hovered above the basin looking like miniature ghosts.

"Malfoy, Hermione?"

Hermione spun around in her seat and saw that Ron had found her.

"Ron?"

"Why Malfoy? What, Snape wasn't good enough for you? Didn't know how to get hold of Voldemort?" Ron spat the words as he advanced towards her.

"What – what are you talking about?"

"You! And Malfoy! Together!"

"What?" Hermione asked, feeling bewildered. "There is nothing 'together' about Draco and myself. We're friends, Ron, nothing else."

"Friends," he snorted. "He's been on you from day one, teasing you, making you cry! And now this!"

"Ron, calm down!" Hermione said, reaching for him. He recoiled as if he had been burned. "What's bothering you?"

"How could you, Hermione?"

"I did what I did, Ron, and I don't regret it. He's a good person who has had a lot of bad things happen to him. Sure he made some bad choices, but who hasn't?"

"You're really sticking to this, aren't you?" Ron asked, sitting down in a chair slightly away from where Hermione was sitting. "Sticking by him?"

"Yes," Hermione breathed. "I am. He's my friend now."

"Friend," Ron muttered.

"Yes," Hermione repeated. "And yours too," she added, almost as an afterthought.

"What?" Ron asked, eyeing Hermione sceptically.

"He's your friend too," she said in a whisper.

"I repeat: what? No!" He was beginning to look as though he thought she had gone crazy.

"Look, I haven't told this to anyone yet! If I'm going to tell you this I need you to behave. Lives depend on it!" Hermione leaned towards him, desperation in her voice and on her face.

"You – what? Hermione, what's going on?" Ron was looking worried now.

"Do you remember what Harry told us about what happened on the tower?" Ron nodded, then shrugged his shoulders and mouthed 'vaguely'. "Well, Dumbledore offered Draco safety, didn't he? And, well, now that it turns out he isn't dead…"

"He kept his promise," Ron said. "And his family as well?"

"To an extent," Hermione said. "We're working on it."

"So, where is that little rat? And what did you mean by his being my frie-" Ron stopped suddenly. "No. No? You didn't?"

"If you mean 'gave him a new identity and enrolled him at Hogwarts' you wouldn't be far off," Hermione said.

"Leo? Leo Blake is Draco Malfoy?"

"The one and only," Hermione said with a weak smile.

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed slamming his fist onto the table. "I really liked that guy!"

Hermione bit back a nervous laugh. "You still can. They're the same person; you just got to know him without your prejudice."

"Sweet Merlin, Hermione! Why did you have to put him in Gryffindor?" Ron asked, glaring at her.

"I didn't!" Hermione said. "I swear! McGonagall had no idea; she's the one who insisted on the sorting. And the Sorting Hat did the rest."

"Seriously?" Ron asked, looking incredulous. "There really is some Gryffindor in that snake?"

"Ron! Behave!" Hermione said sternly. "Yes. Like all of us." Hermione hurried to explain before Ron's head exploded. "What I mean is that we all have characteristics of several of the houses in us. How many times haven't you wondered why I wasn't in Ravenclaw? And Harry was almost put in Slytherin when he was sorted! I'm sorry Ron, but the world isn't as black and white as you'd like it to be."

"But a Malfoy in Gryffindor?" Ron asked with a whine. "It's just not _right_."

"But that's how it is. Draco is in Gryffindor now, and you like him. Everybody likes him. He's our friend," Hermione said.

"Would you please stop saying that?"

"Not saying it wouldn't change the truth."

"Stop making sense!" Ron exclaimed. "I'm supposed to be in here being upset with you!"

"Aren't you?" Hermione asked with a smile.

"Well, not really," Ron admitted. "I mean, you're Hermione. And for the most part you do the right thing. It just takes me some time to remember that." He got up from his chair and walked over to her, pulling her into a fierce embrace. "Though I sort of whish you were kidding about Malfoy."

Hermione laughed and hit him gently. "Remember," she said, "behave! No one else knows yet."

"I remember," he said with a smile. "Friends?"

"Always."

Hermione and Ron were sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace in the kitchen roasting treats when Ginny and Harry came back, wrapped in layers upon layers of winter clothing, laughing and rosy in the cheeks. They were thrilled to see that Ron and Hermione had made up, and Hermione was sure that Harry and Ginny had made up in their way as well. After Dumbledore's 'funeral' at the end of the previous school year Harry had broken up with Ginny in an attempt to keep her safe, and things had been a bit tense between them since that. But it seemed as though Ginny was beginning to make Harry realise she'd be in the middle of things whether she was his girlfriend or not. Maybe that'd make him re-thing things, Hermione thought.

Ginny was extremely giggly, Hermione thought, and the reason for this soon became clear. Harry produced four tickets from his pocket.

"Ginny's never been to the movies," he said with a shrug, "and neither has Ron, so I decided we'd take them. Ginny picked the film." He handed the tickets to Hermione. They read '_Titanic_'.

"About the boat?" Hermione asked?

"Yeah," Harry said. "The lady in the ticket booth said it was great. She'd seen it five times already."

"Six times," Ginny said with a giggle. "And the lead is a real looker!"

0o0o

Hermione had been up bright and early the next morning, and when she returned to Grimmauld's Place Harry, Ron and Ginny had only just sat down for breakfast.

"Good morning," Hermione said cheerily as she sat down to join them.

"Where've you been?" Ron asked between bites of toast and eggs.

"Just doing some shopping," Hermione said, accepting a plate of food from Dobby. "Thank you."

"What shopping?" Ginny asked.

"For the DA. Protection. I've been thinking about this since the attack, and I don't want this to happen again. I'm going to see if I can figure something out that'd keep them all somewhat safer."

"What are you thinking?" Harry asked.

"Portkeys," Hermione said, fetching a shopping bag. She pulled out a regular cookie tin and put it on the table. Ginny peeled the lid off to reveal an eclectic collection of ring. "They're easy to keep close, and I picked these up from some thrift shops thinking different sort of rings might be less noticeable than if we all suddenly sported matching silver DA rings or something."

"Neat," Ron said

"Thanks," Hermione said. "I just hope it'll work out."

"I'm sure it will," Ginny said and fitted the lid back onto the tin. "Everyone ready to go back to Hogwarts tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I guess," Ron said. "It'll be weird though – 'cause of the attacks."

"I know. Six from our year alone," Harry said.

"How many are left?" Ron asked, turning towards Hermione.

"We were 25 before Christmas," Hermione said, thinking. "And out of the 25 … Terry Boot, and Megan Jones died. Justin Finch-Fletchley and Melinda Rivers are still in St. Mungo's, and I don't think they'll be back for a while."

"And also Maverick Runcorn, Sally-Anny Perks, Hannah Abbot and … Lavender," Harry said. "It feels so wrong, you know, that she's dead? I mean, she's been right there with us for these past six years, and now …"

"They targeted muggleborns, that's for sure," Ron said.

"What about Megan?" Ginny asked. "I don't think she's muggleborn. I know she's related to someone vaguely famous."

"Yeah, I know. She's half-blood," Hermione said. "But her mum, who is a muggle, remarried. Megan has three half-brothers. The eldest is … or, was, in his second year. He was a muggleborn."

"That's lucky," Harry said. The three others stared at him. "Not that he – I – I just meant that it was strange her mother should have another magical child with a muggle. Lucky for the kid, I guess. Though not ultimately. Dear Merlin, I feel so bad for saying these things! I'll stop now." Harry dropped his head to the table.

"That's okay Harry," Ginny said, patting his head. "We understand what you meant."

"Were anyone else affected? In our year I mean?" Ron asked. Ginny huffed. "What? It's just – I know my year better. And it sort of gives all of this perspective."

"No," Hermione said. "Every muggleborn in our year was targeted. Not quite the same coverage in the younger years, though. There's only me, Justin and Megan left now, actually."

"I hate this," Ginny said. "That he's winning. Killing off muggleborns, and us not being able to stop him."

"I wonder why you weren't targeted?" Ron asked. "I mean, you were here and they couldn't have known that, but your parents are fine and everything, right? That's what their letter said?" He was referring to a letter Hermione had sent to her parents as soon as she remembered they could have been targeted.

"They're not quite as safe as I might have indicated," Hermione said carefully.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Well, they actually were targeted."

"What?"

"But they weren't at home! Since I wasn't going to be there anyway, they suddenly decided to go away for a week or two. They were rung up by the police chief – they know him pretty well since Mum's his dentist – and he told him our house had burned to the ground."

"No?"

"No one really knows how or why of course, they are muggles. But Tonks took a look. Found traces of magic."

"Oh, I'm so sorry Hermione," Ginny said, reaching out to pat Hermione's hand. "Where are they now?"

"With the Order, I'm guessing. No one can really tell me where they are exactly, but I've been promised they're safe."

Ginny scooted over to Hermione and gave her a gentle squeeze.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Hermione said. "It's just... I wish I had thought of it. I feel like I should have known to keep them hidden, keep the safe."

"None of us could have known they would do this, that they would attack," Ron said. "And over _Christmas_."

"I know," Hermione said. "I guess we've underestimated them. And that's exactly why I bought these." Hermione shook the tin, rattling the rings inside.


	21. Chapter 21

Being back at Hogwarts was ... strange, Hermione decided. Not only had many been killed or wounded in the attacks over Christmas, but even more students had left or been pulled out by their parents. None of the seventh years had left, but quite a few in the younger years had.

Classes were back in session, but no one had quite gotten over seeing the empty seats in the classrooms. The welcome-back feast had been especially bleak. The Headmistress, the Heads of Houses and the Head Girl and Boy had all held speeches. Hermione would never forget standing up on that podium, the feeling of that lump in her throat as she said Lavender's name or seeing a room full of fellow students openly weeping for their lost and hurt friends.

Ron, Harry and Ginny had, as Hermione expected, acted quite strange in Draco's presence at first, but she had seen the moments when they had forgotten – when they had laughed at a joke he had made, or simply asked him to pass the milk at breakfast – and she had a feeling things would work out in the end.

The remaining twenty-one seventh graders had all moved into Gryffindor tower, and by now every single remaining Hogwarts student could fit into the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers. Since Hermione had been quite busy the first few days back at Hogwarts, with moving students around in the towers and helping the professors with making the study plans fit together, it took a couple of days before she took them to see Albus. She showed them the tapestry with the demiguises and told them the password, guided them down the narrow hall and led them to a halt in front of the door at the end. She knocked gently and it opened a crack. A green eye peered out at them.

"Hi misses, misters," Winky said, and opened the door wide to let them in. They stepped into a smaller hall and followed Winky into the first room on the right. "Master," she said with a squeak, "the visitors are here."

Hermione was the first person in, and went straight to the professor. He was sitting in a bed at the far side of the room, well tucked-in by Winky. Hermione bent and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"How are you Albus," she asked, and took a seat next to the bed.

"Better, better," he said with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes.

"Master can sit up now," Winky said, interrupting, and fluffed the pillows behind the old man's back and pulled the blankets up around him. "Eats lots."

Hermione smiled. "That's good!"

"I concur. I will be glad to leave these chambers," the professor said. "After all, I haven't been out of doors since June!"

"I know, Albus," Hermione said. "But Winky swore just before Christmas that she'd let me take you for a walk this month." The House Elf huffed at this and left the room.

"I brought someone this time," Hermione said and gestured towards the three still clustered by the door. They were looking as if they didn't quite believe their eyes.

"Ah! Mr. Weasley, Miss Weasley. Harry." Albus waved at them to come closer. "I heard you took the news of my survival with some shock?"

"Um, yes," Harry said, somewhat nervously, as he stepped forward and took a seat next to Hermione. The two Weasleys tripped around uncomfortably, as the only two chairs now were occupied. Albus patted the lower end of his bed nonchalantly, and the two nervously sat down.

"Not that we were unhappy with the news, Headmaster," Ginny said, "just, you know, shocked."

"I had no idea Hermione could keep a secret, really," Ron said.

"Indeed," Albus said as his eyes twinkled merrily.

As Winky brought out tea and scones Hermione told Albus of how she had shared the news, leading them to their discovery.

"We found it in some stored boxes in Grimmauld's Place," Harry said as he retrieved the heavy, ornate locket from his pocket. Dumbledore's eyes widened.

"It was hidden there, all along?"

"I guess so," Hermione said. "But is this it? Is this the one?"

"It is Slytherin's locket, that's for sure," Albus said. "And whether it's a horcrux or not – we have one person here who could tell us for sure." The four of them looked at him expectantly. "Ginny."

"What?" Ginny said with a squeak. "Why?"

"Because of your rather personal bond with one object we know for sure was a horcrux. Give it to her Harry, if she's willing."

Ginny was trembling now, shaking her head slowly from side to side. "I'm not sure I can do this," she said, but held out her hands none the less. Harry let the locket drop into them. She didn't clutch it or hold it tight like they expected, but let it lie there in her open hands as she watched it intently. With a snapping sound the lids they had been unable to pry apart separated slightly, making Ginny jump nervously. Hermione, Ron and Harry leaned closer to peek inside, but before they got a proper look Ginny clapped her hands together, forcing the locket shut.

"It's the one, I'm sure," she said, still trembling, handing the locket back to Harry.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked and slung his arm across her shoulder.

"Yeah," Ginny said, "getting better by the second."

"So, what do we do now?" Hermione asked. "How do we destroy it?"

"It has to be killed," Albus said. "However, as I was not completely successful at my attempt, I would recommend we think this through. Leave it somewhere safe, for now."

The DA sessions were continuing as normally as they could, considering the loss of students. But now Hermione were sitting in the Room of Requirement prepared for a meeting out of the ordinary. She had invited only the seventh graders this time.

"Welcome," Hermione said, as everyone had arrived. "Please look around. There are only twenty-one of us. There used to be more. For almost every person here there should be one more. Eleven have left or been pulled out by their parents. Six were killed this Christmas. Justin is still in St Mungos. And Melinda," Hermione drew her breath with difficulty, "Melinda died last night from the injuries she suffered in the attack."

* * *

Susan Bones, the only girl from Hufflepuff left in their year, gasped and tears ran freely down her face. Those sitting closest to her huddled closer, all of them crying. After a few minutes of silence Hermione continued.

"I'm going to be honest with you. Because I'm afraid more of us will die. I fear this war will come to us, to Hogwarts. And I'm not asking you to stay here, in fact I would beg you to go – anywhere. But I'm staying. Because I think we can win this. We have the upper hand, we have a chance to make a difference. We have a secret."

Hermione's year mates were looking at each other, only a handful knew what she was talking about. Ron and Harry were intimately familiar with it, Draco knew some, and Neville had been assisting Ginny since before Christmas in the library.

"But I'm afraid we can't tell you much of it. Any of it, really. Because it would put you in danger. But we need help. Your help. And now I'm giving you the chance to leave."

Not a single person moved.

"Thank you," Hermione said. "We need to find an object. Specifically Helga Hufflepuff's golden goblet."

Neville stood up, carrying a large volume. He read the description of the cup, and showed them an old drawing. "There are several accounts of the goblets," Neville said, "and many families who have claimed ownership of it, most recently the Smith family – who are decedents of Hufflepuff – but none have come forward with proof of ownership. If you've ever heard anything, or read anything, or seen anything that leads you to believe you might have an idea of where the cup is, or of someone who might, please let us know."

Neville returned to his seat, leaving the room in silence. Hermione called for Dobby, who brought out plates of sandwiches and pitchers of pumpkin juice. After they had all topped their goblets, Susan lifted hers.

"To Melinda Rivers!"

"Megan Jones!"

"Terry Boot!"

"Lavender Brown!"

"Hannah Abbot!"

"Sally-Anne Perks!"

"Maverick Runcorn!"

* * *

Not long after the meeting Hermione kept her promise to Dumbledore. Ignoring Winky's protest, she helped the old man out trough a narrow hall to a sheltered garden hidden away in a corner of the castle garden. The castle sheltered the wind, and the sun was shone bleakly near the horizon. Hermione cast a few spells to make sure no one could see them or reach them, and placed the old man on a bench she had cleared of snow and ice and folded a blanket across his shoulders.

"Ahh," Albus said, drawing a deep breath.

"Feeling good?" Hermione asked, sitting down next to him, and tucking the blanket closer around his frail body.

"I do," he said, smiling. "It feels good to be out of doors again. I feel quite on the mend!"

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes.

"Have you given any thought to what we discussed before Christmas?" Hermione asked. "People need to know you're alive."

"Do they?" The old man asked. "The ministry will have nothing to do with me, and I am too fragile now to be of any assistance to the Order. Or to you."

"You know that's not true!" Hermione said. "The ministry! They're of no help or good to anyone! They only came to the conclusion Voldemort had returned after you were 'killed', and they've hardly done anything about it since. The Order is the only thing between Voldemort and his goal, and they're losing people, resources and hope every day. You can at least bring them hope."

They lapsed into silence again.

"You are right, of course," Albus said. "It is very comfortable not knowing what is going on, not being relied upon. I did not expect that at all. During your planning I always thought I would long to be back, to be in charge, to make things right."

"And you will!"

"I am not so sure. During these months I have only been able to see all the wrong choices I have made." Dumbledore looked so small sitting there, huddled in a large blanket.

"Everyone is in the wrong sometimes," Hermione said.

"Not everybody's wrongs cause lives to be lost, dear."

"But you will think about, won't you?" Hermione asked, looking at him intently.

"Certainly," the professor said.

"I told them about the cup," Hermione said suddenly. "The seventh years, in Dumbledore's Army."

"You did?"

"I didn't tell them what it was, or why we needed it! Only that we were looking for it, and it might help us. I was so afraid of telling them, of the danger I potentially could put them in. I asked them to leave. They didn't."

"Of course not," Albus said. "They have found their leaders, and that is what gives them hope."

* * *

Hermione received the results from the tests she had taken before Chistmas. Since she was taking the Divination and Muggle Studies O.W.L.s at the end of the year, she had taken the finals for the years she had missed, and the sixth year final for Care of the Magical Creatures, History of Magic and Astronomy as she hoped to take the N.E.W.T.s at the end of the year. In addition to this she was re-taking her N.E.W.T.s in Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, hoping to bump them from Exceeds Expectations to Outstanding.

Luckily she had passed everything, with good scores, and the Headmistress wrote her name down for the exams in question.

She was also doing well in the two optional classes – Healing and Duelling.

Hermione was surprised to find she had time to finish the rings for the DA. Enlisting the help of Draco, she had managed to find the correct portkey-spell and had enchanted the rings she had found in the second-hand stores. As soon as they were finished she had handed them out at meetings, explaining how they worked (by spinning them around the finger three times) and where they would end up (on the road between Hogsmeade and Hogwarts).

But by now Easter was near, and judging by the sign-up sheets in the towers a surprising number of people were going home for the week. Hermione, however, was not, and neither was Ron, Harry or Ginny.

That suddenly changed when Morag McDougal came over to Hermione one evening.

"I need to tell you something, and I'm not sure if it's important or not."

Hermione put away her book and cast the muffilatio-charm so that no one would be able to hear their conversation.

"Go on."

"It's about what you mentioned at the meeting," Morag said. By the way she said 'meeting' there was no misunderstanding her.

"What about it?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I didn't think about it at the time, because I was pretty sure I hadn't heard of it. But I got to thinking about it yesterday for some reason, but couldn't quite pinpoint why. And I just remembered that my favourite animal when I was a kid was the badger." She looked around to make sure no one was paying any attention to them. "When I was younger, my dad always used to take me and my sisters to a museum not far from where we live. We used to love it, because they had a magical exhibition the muggles had no idea existed. And there was this beautiful display of an engraved dinner set that my sister wanted so badly she even had it replicated for her wedding! There were plates with engraved animals running around on them, and these delicate glasses with exploding fireworks, but my favourite was always the sturdy golden goblet – because it had an engraved badger on it."

"And you think it could be Hufflepuffs cup?"

"I have no idea! But I do know that it was donated to the museum by the Smith family."

"Okay," Hermione said, thinking. "It's definitely worth looking into."

"I can take you there," Morag said, "maybe over Easter?"

"That would be perfect! Thank you!"

Morag smiled widely, and gave Hermione a brief hug before leaving. Hermione cancelled the muffilatio and headed over to the sign-up sheet where she quickly wrote down her name, followed by Harry's, Ron's and Ginny's.

She found a scrap of parchment and wrote a quick note.

_A,_

_News about H. _

_Will leave for E._

_H._

Sneaking away from the crowd in the tower Hermione called for Dobby.

"Hi, Dobby, how are you?"

"Good, miss, good!"

"Excellent! Could you reach Winky, and give her this? She'll know what to do with it."

The House Elf bowed deeply, grasped the slip of parchment and popped away.

Now Hermione needed to find Harry, Ron and Ginny and tell them they were going home for Easter.

* * *

Home, however, did not mean the Burrow. The four of them had taken the Hogwarts express, along with a surprising number of students, to King's Cross and then a quick cab-ride to Grimmauld's Place. They spent their days there reading and studying – as well as doing duelling practice in the spacious dining room.

Morag came through the floo a couple of days before the holidays ended.

"Hi," she said with a smile, as she stepped out of the fireplace, dropped her bag down on the flagstone floor and began brushing soot of her clothes. "How is your holiday?"

"Good," Ginny said with a smile, "though it doesn't feel much like a holiday with all the duelling practice Harry's put us through!"

"He's a tyrant," Morag said with a laugh. "But I'd like to give it a try."

Hermione showed Morag to an empty room and let her get settled before they assembled in the living room. Supper was in two hours (according to Dobby, who no-one could convince to stay away), and Harry was in charge of working up their appetites.

Despite Hermione being the official leader of Dumbeldore's Army, Harry had slowly but surely taken over responsibility for duelling and battle practice during the meetings. Hermione's focus had turned to the group of students who showed aptitude for healing. Ron and Ginny had also taken charge of their own sub-groups – tactics and flying respectively.

Harry handed Ron and the girls blindfolds, which they carefully tied across their eyes. During the next couple of hours he not only had them duel each other blind, forcing them to rely on their other senses, but also hurled curses and obstacles towards them as they tried to pass a make-shift obstacle course. By the time supper came around they were all fatigued, and as soon as Dobby had feed them they all headed to bed.

* * *

By midnight they were all up again and gathered in the dining room.

Hermione had made a portkey out of an ordinary clothes hanger. The five of them were huddled around it.

"You're sure this is going to work?" Morag asked.

"As sure as I'll ever be," Hermione said. "It activates at eight."

Harry checked his watch.

"Only a couple more minutes."

They waited in silence, until Harry indicated it was time. They all reached out somewhat tentatively to touch the portkey, and before they knew it the familiar sensation tugged them along from their bellybuttons.

Barely any time had passed when they appeared in a darkened room. Hermione tucked the deactivated portkey back into her bag and pulled out her wand. She lighted it and swept the room.

Ginny was wandering around with her own wand lit in what appeared to be a gift shop.

"Where are we?" Ron asked.

"In the museum vestibule," Morag said. "We're going this way," she said, indicating to their general left.

With wands alight, they climbed a set of stairs and entered a long room. Exhibition cases lined the wall, and eerie deep-sea creatures, suspended in glass jars, were briefly lit up by the flickering wandlight as they passed. Further in Morag indicated that they should look up. Giant whale skeletons were illuminated, their shadows dancing on the walls and ceiling.

"Wow," Ginny said.

A bit further on they left the sea creatures behind and climbed a second staircase. They entered a long room which curved to the right. As in the previous exhibition, glass cabinets lined the walls. But these were filled with furry mammals from all over the world, dead and stuffed in slightly unnatural-looking positions. Wandlight gleamed off ancient glass, empty eyes and bared teeth.

Morag led them to a blank stretch of wall halfway down the room. Nestled between two exhibition cases, it didn't look any different from any other section of wall in the museum. But as they came closer the wall seemed to shimmer in the wandlight, as if they were seeing it through a heat haze. Morag stepped closer and disappeared through it, leading the way.

"And the muggles don't see this?" Ron asked.

"Not at all," Hermione said, and followed Morag through.

A lit room appeared in front of them as they stepped through. Decorated only in the three primary colours, it was slightly overwhelming.

Harry stroked the red, blue and yellow chequered wall, shaking his head.

"Insanity," he mumbled.

"I used to love it as a child," Morag said.

"I bet," Ginny said.

"So, where is it?" Hermione asked, referring to the item they all hoped was Hufflepuff's cup.

"Through here," Morag said, and led them through an open doorway. Glass cabinets lined three of the walls, each gleaming with precious-metal objects. Directly opposite the entrance, at eye-lever, was the object they were all there to find. Harry stepped forward, almost pressing against the glass case.

"It's the one, it has to be," he said.

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked.

"As sure as I'll ever be," he said. "It looks like the one Dumbledore showed me in the memory."

He reached out to grab the cabinet, to open it somehow, but the others stopped him.

"There's bound to be an alarm," Hermione said. "It's a precious exhibition."

She raised her wand and cast a few quick spells.

"So?"

"Appears to be just ordinary burglary spells," Hermione said. "But they are very outdated. Burglary spells have been heavily revisited over the past decades. We've had them in class, since Flitwick himself took great part in it. He even showed us how to dismantle the old charms just to let us know how unreliable magic can be some times, especially old magic. Outdated magic."

"Can you take them down?" Ron asked.

"I think so."

And a couple of minutes later Hermione had the cup out of the cabinet, leaving a worthless duplicate in its stead. The five of them looked at the cup in awe for a second, not really believing that they actually had it. Hermione shook herself and tucked it into her bag, and indicated to the others that they should all leave.

They quickly made their way out of the magical exhibition.

"Does anyone else feel like that was way too easy?" Ron asked.

Harry was about to answer when Ginny's horrified gasp interrupted him. "Are those animals moving?"

They all spun around to face the same direction as Ginny, pointing their wands. When the cabinet was fully illuminated they could confirm that it was full of live rodents. Clearly labelled boards that had only minutes ago been the base for dozens of rodents were now empty. Their previous occupants were on the lowest shelf, their eyes wild and gleaming in the wandlight, sharp claws grinding against the glass.

Ginny edged closer. "Their eyes are red," she said in a whisper. The small creatures crashed against the class front. The hundred-year-old glass would last long, Hermione guessed.

"We have to get out of here," Harry said, "fast! There are worse things than rats in these cabinets."

As they turned to leave a great crash sounded behind them, soon followed by others.

"Too late," Ron said.

A pair of lions emerged from the shadows and the broken glass, their eyes the same unnatural shade of dull red as the rodents. As the huge felines sauntered towards them, Hermione suddenly got the feeling she was sinking into the ground. As she looked down she saw that her feet had disappeared into the blue carpet that ran the length of the room.

"What's happening?" Ginny asked nervously, as she treaded the ground.

Suddenly a shape leaped from the group of beasts that had emerged from the cabinets. Only Harry had the experience to react fast enough, and blasted the creature back into the darkness their wandlight couldn't breach. As he did so, a shudder ran through the room and the five of them suddenly fell into the carpet. It had turned into a deep river, rushing down the room pulling them with it. The animals were running alongside it, growling and roaring, snapping at their hands if they reached for the edge.

In a matter of seconds they were rushed towards the staircase-turned-waterfall and slammed against the floor of the next exhibition. But only a split second later the floor trembled and disappeared beneath them, and they fell into the bottomless water.

Hermione broke the surface, spitting water, still clutching her bag tightly. They were all treading water, looking around at each other in confusion.

"What is going on?" Morag asked, panic sounding in her voice.

A loud creaking noise interrupted any reply. They all looked up, and watched in shock as the giant whale skeletons above were twisting and bucking, trying to free themselves of the chains that held them suspended. Other creatures began moving as well - mounted sharks, dolphins and seals - and when Hermione swept her wandlight over the class cabinets oddly suspended on the surface of the water, she saw the creatures inside coming to life.

"This can't possibly be safe," Ginny shouted, as the first whale broke free of the chains and dived into the water below, sending waves rolling over the five of them. "Do you think it is part of the protection of the cup?"

"Positively!" Hermione shouted.

"But is it the museums protection?" Harry asked. "Or Voldemorts?"

Hermione cast a bubblehead charm over all of them, and they dove below the surface, staring at the life teeming in the depths. It was so dark under water they could barely see anything. The beams of light from their wands looked weak and pathetic in the blue depths, occasionally illuminating the shapes hidden below, their eyes the same empty, dull read as the mammals in the previous exhibition. As they watched, a pair of sharks turned towards them, mouths brimming with sharp and lethal-looking sharp teeth. In unison the group fired spells at them, and returned to the surface. Barely having any time to think, they scrambled up against the cabinets lining the wall, not making it very far.

Hermione, remembering something from when they passed through the room earlier, hurled an accio into the darkness, and was relieved to see the canoe she had seen exhibited by the arctic seals come soaring towards them. Harry and Ron still blasting spells towards the advancing beasts, they all climbed into it. As soon as Ron was at least halfway in, Hermione sent the canoe soaring up in the air, only escaping the jaws of a huge blue whale by feet.

"I didn't think whales had teeth like that," Ginny said breathlessly, staring into the massive jaws below.

"They don't," Morag said.

"It must be part of the spell," Hermione said. "And I'm pretty sure the museum wouldn't want to kill us."

More of the creatures came leaping up from the water below them, all sporting jaws richly filled with razor sharp teeth snapping at them.

"Can you move this thing?" Ron asked.

"Not in a controlled manner," Hermione confessed. "I can make it float alright, but if I tried to move it we would most likely end up back in the water."

"What about those?" Harry asked, indicating the cabinets still lining the wall. "Do you think they'd hold our weight?"

Ginny, being the smallest of the group, volunteered to try, and smoothly leapt onto the closest cabinet, Ron keeping his wand fixed on her every second to magic her back if anything went wrong.

"They seem to keep me up fine," Ginny said, walking along the top. Thanks to a sticking charm Morag had applied, the palms of her hands stuck to the wall, allowing her to keep her balance on the relatively narrow top of the cabinet.

As the beasts below were gaining height in their leaps, the others soon followed Ginny. They walked on a line along the top of the cabinets, making slow progress. Suddenly a large crash sounded, and they turned in time to see a massive killer whale dragging down the remains of the cabinet it had just crashed into.

Urged on by this first attempt, the other beasts began leaping into the wall, crashing the cabinets. The five looked exchanged looks, and hurried along. They followed the cabinets to the end of the room, where they stopped against a wall.

"What do we do now?" Morag asked, shouting over the loud splashes and growls coming from the enchanted skeletons.

"We jump," Harry said, "out the window." He pointed towards the large window on the opposite wall.

"We can't jump that far!" Hermione protested.

"If we tip the cabinet we could," Ron said.

"On three!"

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!" They all pushed against the wall, rocking the cabinet. It slammed back against the wall, and they all pushed again. Suddenly a crash sounded from below. A shark had catapulted itself against the cabinet, breaking it. As it tumbled towards the depths below they leapt from it towards the windowpane across the room. Harry reached the window first, breaking the class, and threw a cushioning charm at the ground as they hurled towards it.


	22. Chapter 22

Hermione, Ron, Harry, Ginny and Morag were sitting in the kitchen in Grimmauld's Place, hungrily attacking the cottage pie Kreacher had prepared for them. The Hufflepuff goblet stood at one end of the table, gleaming in the candlelight.

When they had finished their pie, the group silently turned to face the object they assumed was a Horcrux.

"What do we do now?" Ginny asked after a while. "How do we destroy it? Kill it?"

"I'm sorry, Ginny, but could you?" Harry asked, indicating the goblet. Ginny's face darkened, but she got up from her seat and walked over to the large goblet. Hand trembling, she reached forward and touched it with the tips of her fingers. She pulled back instantly as if she had been burned.

"It feels the same. Like the diary. Like the locket."

"What is she talking about?" Morag asked, looking from person to person. They had never gone into detail about what the goblet was, but had made it clear it was very important, and very dangerous. "Are there more objects like this?"

"Six or seven, in total," Ron said. "But we've found four of them now."

"The Diary, the Ring, the Locket and the Goblet," Harry said silently.

"And they need to be destroyed?" Morag asked. "It's really that serious?"

"Life and death serious," Ginny said, returning to her seat. "The diary and the ring have already been destroyed."

"How?" Morag asked.

"I pierced the diary with a broken basilisk tooth years ago," Harry said. "And Dumbledore took care of the ring – unfortunately it shrivelled his hand in the process, so I'm not sure I would call it a success."

"One of these," Morag said, indicating the goblet, "caused Dumbledore's hand to – to – blacken and die just like that?"

"We said they were dangerous," Hermione said.

"Where is the locket now?"

"Hidden away at the school," Hermione said. "Until we find out what to do with them."

"Can't you just poke them with the fang, like Harry did?" Morag asked.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny looked at each other.

"Would it still be there? The basilisk?" Ginny asked. "In the chamber?"

"I don't know," Harry admitted, "but first thing back at school we'll find out."

OoOo

Morag had remained at Grimmauld's Place for the rest of Easter vacation, and travelled together with the others to Kings Cross and Platforn 9 ¾ to return to Hogwarts on the Hogwarts Express. Meeting up with Luna and Neville, the seven of them squeezed into the first empty compartment they could find, about halfway down the train. As the train lurched and started moving away from the platform, the compartment was a chaotic mess. The three owls – Harry's Hedwig, Ron's Pigwidgeon and Morag's Ginger (creatively named, Morag explained, by her younger sister upon seeing the large russet owl for the first time) – were hooting excitedly from their cages in the overhead storage shelves watching the three boys playing one of Fred and George's new games, involving exploding bug-like snacks and a set of dice that seemed to have minds of their own. The girls were busy talking, and laughing at Hermione's large cat Crookshanks playing hide and seek with Ginny's tiny Pygmy Puff Arnold.

A few hours passed in this fashion. And then the train lurched to a sudden stop, sending the owls and their cages topping down on the witches and wizards below.

"What's going on?" Harry asked, after he had settled Hedwig and her cage on his lap. The large owl was not pleased.

"I don't know," Hermione said, looking through the window in the door to see if anything was going on.

"I think we should let the owls out for a fly," Morag said, as she unsuccessfully tried to soothe her owl with some treats. Ron immediately agreed and fished Pig out of his cage as Neville opened the window.

"Go straight to Hogwarts," Harry told Hedwig, stroking her white feathers, before he released her.

"Should we go check what's going on?" Ginny asked as she opened the compartment door.

Stepping out of their compartment, they soon found more students set on the same task.

"I'll go," Hermione said, "you guys stay here."

As the rest of them went back into the compartment, Hermione turned to face the front of the train, intending to check with the driver. Ron stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"Are you sure it's safe?"

"It's probably nothing, Ron," Hermione said, smiling reassuringly.

"The last time this train stopped for anything it was to let dementors onboard," he reminded her.

"Look, if I find something out of the ordinary I'll sign you with your DA token. Do you still have the galleon?"

Ron fished the item in question from his pocket.

"Good," Hermione said. "I can't say much, but I'll let you guys know if it's anything to worry about."

"Fine," Ron said, letting go of her arm. "Get back soon."

He returned to the compartment and closed the door, and Hermione started walking up the length of the train. There were a lot of students thinking what Hermione was thinking, but being Head Girl she reassured them and told them to return to their compartments.

"I'm Head Girl, I'll go see what's happening and let you know on the way back," she told a group of third year students. Eventually the word spread, and all of the students returned to their seats.

"I'll come with you," said a voice from one of the compartments she had just passed. She turned around. Ernie MacMillan, the Head Boy, approached her.

"There's really no need, Ernie," Hermione said with a smile.

"It's our duty, is it not?" The brown-haired wizard said, walking beside her.

"I guess."

They walked in silence, occasionally checking the compartments they passed. As they were passing from one train cart to the other, Hermione suddenly stopped.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" Ernie asked.

"Get down," Hermione whispered and pulled on his robes.

"What's going on?" he asked in a hushed whisper. "We're almost at the conductor's car."

"Death Eaters," Hermione said as she fumbled in her pockets.

Eyes wide Ernie slowly inched up until he could look through the window. The lights had almost all been extinguished, and tall cloaked figures were standing along the train car as though waiting for something, their masks revealing who they served.

"What are they doing?" Ernie asked in a hushed whisper, as the two of them slowly retreated to the car they had come from.

"I don't know, and I'm not intending to wait around and find out. We need to act, and we need to do it now." Hermione was fiddling with the golden DA coin. She had originally only needed it to write out dates and times for the next DA meetings, and now found her choice of words limited.

Ernie reached for his pocket as his own DA coin glowed warmly. Two words glowed faintly along the rim. Death Eaters.

"Hurry down to the next cart and start getting people out of here," Hermione said, discreetly spelling the windows between the train cars with notice-me-not charms. "I'll take this car. Remember, only DA members have the portkeys I made, so make sure they take as many as can on each trip. Send the prefects you find down along the train to help us."

Ernie nodded and, fingering his own portkey-ring, hurried down the train car, concealed under a spell.

Hermione hurriedly entered the first compartment in the car. It was filled with first year students.

"Hi," Hermione said in a low voice, "do you know who I am?"

One of the girls pointed to her badge and informed the others that she was she Head Girl.

"That's right. Which means you have to do what I tell you." She got her wand out and tapped each student on the head, disillusioning them. "As quickly and as quietly you can, get to the last compartment in this car. Tell the people there I sent you, and to be quiet."

In the next compartment Hermione luckily found some DA-member – Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan. She quickly explained what was going on as they herded students, mostly from the younger years, down along to the end of the car.

"I know you want to help," Hermione told Dean, "but you need to get these kids safely to Hogsmeade, and then you need to get to Hogwarts as quick as you can to let them know what's happening."

Dean nodded, a grim expression on his face, and pulled his portkey of his finger. With a tap of his wand he expanded it to make it easier to use by several people. Half a minute later the compartment and the hall at the end of the car was empty aside from a still-disillusioned Hermione and Seamus. They hurried towards the next car, glad to see it nearly emptied as well. Not listening to his protests, Hermione send Seamus along to Hogsmeade on his portkey with the rest of the students from the car.

Ernie had sent his portkey with a large group of students, but had stayed behind himself. Hermione did not approve, but there wasn't much she could do now. Passing down the cars as fast as they could, Hermione and Ernie shipped the younger students off using the portkeys of the DA members they found. The seventh and sixth years students refused to leave, except if their portkeys were being used, saying they preferred to see the younger years leave safely before they left themselves.

Hermione and Ernie has just met up with Harry, Ron, Neville, Luna, Ginny and Morag, and emptied the car their compartment was in, when a loud bang shook the entire train.

"They must have found the empty compartments," Ernie said.

"Then we have to hurry," Harry said, exiting the car. Once they all were in the next car over Hermione locked the door and laced the opening with some uncomfortable spells.

A large part of the seventh years were with them at this point, missing only Dean, Seamus, Anthony Goldstein and Lisa Turpin, who had left with large groups of students on their portkeys. All in all only fifteen minutes had passed since the train stopped, even though it felt like an eternity.

"We've only evacuated half the train," Ernie said, as they began evacuating the next groups of students. The younger children were crying, not knowing what was going on, and more and more were insisting to move up the train and fight.

"Stop it!" Hermione said, "We're not fighting unless we have to!" The students looked at her, most of them frightened, some of them determined. "We've sent for help, and if we can avoid contact with the Death Eaters until help arrives, that is what we'll do!"

Before she could continue organizing the students the train shook again, more violently than before. Students slammed into the walls as the entire train tipped from side to side on the rails, before it slammed to the ground on its side.

Harry immediately pulled out his wand and blasted the roof of the train car.

"Everybody out!" he shouted, leading the way.

Students scrambled out of the top of the toppled-over train cars, their wands at the ready. As Harry and the others turned towards the front of the train, where the Death Eaters were advancing towards them, Hermione and Ernie turned towards the frightened students.

"Take cover among the trees," Hermione said, pointing.

"But we want to fight!" a young boy said fiercely, grasping his wand.

"I am your Head Girl," Hermione said, "and under no circumstances will anyone in fifth year or below be allowed to fight!"

Seeing the determination in her eyes, the remaining prefects began hurriedly guiding the younger students towards the trees, Hermione following them.

Behind them, the Death Eaters had reached the small group of students led by Harry, wand aimed and ready.

Suddenly everything began.

The Death Eaters began cursing, beams of magic hurtling towards the small band of students. Luckily they were not unprepared. They immediately threw up their protective shields, honed to perfection during their DA sessions. As the curses were deflected by the shields, the students began to hurl spells and hexes at the Death Eaters.

Hermione was watching from a distance, as she sent the students away with portkeys. Almost all the DA portkeys had now been used. She sent Ernie and the remaining students further in between the trees. She could tell that the students fighting the Death Eaters were both outnumbered and outmatched. But they were extremely creative. They were using the train both as cover and as weapons, and had actually incapacitated a few of the Death Eaters. But only half of the fighting students were still standing.

Only barely thinking, Hermione started running towards the train. As she closed in, she began hurling hexes towards any Death Eater she could see. She had reached Harry, crouched behind a piece of train, as a multitude of _pop!_s alerted them to the arrival of several Order members. Hermione barely had time to appreciate the help before she noticed the still form hidden behind Harry.

"Ron?" Hermione asked, pushing Harry aside. The redhead was lying deathly still on the grassy ground.

"What's wrong with him?" Hermione asked, her voice panicked and squeaky.

"I don't know," Harry said. "He was hit with some curse, and collapsed. I tried to wake him up, but nothing would work."

Hermione was desperately searching for a pulse, almost recoiling when she felt Ron's cold and clammy skin. Trying to calm herself down, she sagged with relief as she found the slow beat of a pulse with her fingers.

"He's alive. For now."

"Get out of here!" Kingsley Shacklebolt said, ducking behind the portion of train the three of them were hidden behind, "we'll deal with this!"

Looking around, Hermione couldn't do anything but agree. Harry pulled off his DA ring and enlarged it, as all the students who could still move retreated from the battle scene.

"Give me your rings," Hermione said, looking at the DA members present, "I need to get the rest of the students to safety."

Ginny nodded grimly, pulled off her ring and handed it to Hermione. She turned to her brother and grasped his hand, securing it firmly around Harry's portkey as she held on tight with her other hand.

"Are you going to be okay?" Harry asked Hermione, worry heavy in his eyes.

"I need to get the other students, I won't be long," she promised.

Making sure everyone except Hermione was touching the ring, Harry activated it and they disappeared.

Barely heeding the battle scene in her immediate vicinity, Hermione hurried towards the copse of trees where she had last left the remaining students.

"Ernie!" she called, as loudly as she dared, searching for the Head Boy among the trees. He appeared suddenly, clutching his wand.

"Hermione, what's going on?"

"Help is here, we need to leave. I got hold of some more portkeys."

"Great," Ernie said, turning around and signing to the other students that they could come out of hiding. As Hermione enlarged the rings, Ernie spilt the students into groups and handed the portkeys out. Soon only Hermione, Ernie and a small group of sixth years remained.

"Come as soon as you can, okay?" Ernie said, looking at Hermione. Ernie was going to take the sixth years with the last portkey, leaving Hermione behind to do a last sweep of the area to make sure everyone had left before using her own portkey to follow them.

"I will," Hermione said. "Just get everyone into the Great Hall and find out who's missing. I'll be there before you know it!"

As soon as the group had disappeared, Hermione walked to the edge of the small forest, looking towards the train. More Order members had arrived, and it looked as though a great part of the Death Eaters had left. But the few who remained were still fighting.

Turning back again, Hermione whispered _lumos_ and started looking around the immediate area. After a few minutes of searching, Hermione was pretty sure no one had been left behind. She was about to portkey away when she saw movement among the trees. Lifting her wand she walked towards it, leaving the noise of the battle by the train behind.

"Is anyone here?" Hermione asked, letting her wand-light illuminate the forest-trail in front of her.

"Just me," said a voice to her right, making Hermione jump. Out of the shadows stepped the figure of a tall, pale woman, dressed only in long dark hair.

"You?" Hermione asked, with a snare.

"The one and only," the demon said. "Long time, no see, friend."

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked, pointing her wand at the Lamia's chest. The last time she had seen her – it – had been after an attack at Hogsmeade, over twenty years ago.

"Checking up on my old friend," it said, revealing pointed teeth in a smile. "I knew you weren't from then. This smells right; this is when you are from."

"What is that to you?" Hermione asked. "What do you want with me?"

"I still have your gift," it said, ignoring Hermione's questions. With a long-nailed hand the Lamia brushed its hair away, revealing a silver-set grey pearl earring. "Do you still wear its twin?"

"Of course I do," Hermione spat, brushing her hair aside to reveal the earring. "You know I can't remove it."

"Silly me, I forget," the demon said, smiling coldly.

"What do you want?"

"You. Victory. The world," it said. "And Tom will give me what I desire."

"_Tom_," Hermione spat, "will not give you _anything_. Voldemort doesn't share."

"Oh, he will share. That human just doesn't know it yet. And when I help him defeat that little _boy_,  
I know exactly what will be his first gift to me."

"I would sooner die," Hermione said. "But it doesn't matter. Harry will defeat Voldemort. And I will defeat _you_."

The Lamia smiled widely, its white teeth glittering in the light from Hermione's wand.

"I welcome the challenge, witch, and I'll be glad to make you mine. I think this," it indicated somewhere behind it, "belongs to you?"

Hermione stepped to the side, wand still firmly fixed at the demon, to look behind it. A crumpled from lay on the ground.

"What-?" Hermione began, but the Lamia was gone.

Hermione looked around her, wand at the ready, but the demon remained gone. Swallowing, Hermione moved towards the still shape on the ground. Even from this distance she recognized the student robe covering it. Hand trembling, Hermione reached out a hand to pull the robe away. As the fabric slowly slipped away, a petite girl was revealed – pale, with blonde hair in a boyish crop and pale eye staring unseeing into the fading light.

Hermione fell to the ground crying, clutching the dead girl's limp hand. Hermione had never been particularly close to her dorm-mates, and least of all to the quiet girl whose parents had pulled her out of Hogwarts after the events of last year.

Hermione cried because she was terrified. She cried because Lillian Moon wasn't even supposed to be on the train. She cried because she had lived with this girl for six years and hadn't even known her enough to know what names to write on the envelope to her parents.


	23. Chapter 23

When Hermione had finished crying, she levitated Lillian Moon's body and covered it with her cloak. Slowly, she made her way back towards the train, hoping the fighting was over.

It was. Kingley Shacklebolt met Hermione as she approached the train.

"What happened?" he asked.

Hermione was unsure whether he meant the attack on the train, or the obviously dead body she was levitating beside her.

"I was getting the students out, using portkeys," Hermione said. "I – I found her in the woods."

Kingsley lifted the cloak, identifying the girl as a student. "You can put her down over there," he said.

Hermione turned towards where he was pointing. Her blood felt as though it froze in her veins when she saw the large number of covered bodies resting by the toppled-over train.

"Are they, are they all-"

"Hogwarts students, I'm afraid," Kingsley said, fishing out his wand and levitating Lillians body over to join them.

"How many?" Hermione asked, her voice small.

"28," Kingsley said, his voice dark and angry. "Something like this shouldn't have been able to happen. The train should have been better warded than this."

"Then how _did_ it happen?" Hermione asked, turning away from the row of dead bodies.

"Someone might have let them on the train."

"A student?"

"Maybe. That's the easiest answer. But they might have broken the wards. We can't really tell yet."

The two of them stood silently for a while.

"Ms. Granger, I'm sorry, but-" Kingley stopped. "But you are Head Girl, are you not?" Hermione nodded. "I'm very sorry to ask this of you, but could you help us identify the bodies?"

Hermione swallowed hard, and involuntary shudder ran through her body.

"Of course," she said, reluctantly turning back to face her task.

They passed the first body – Lillian – and Kingsley flicked his wand to reveal the next in line.

Hermione's breath caught in her throat.

"That's Su Li, she's a seventh year Ravenclaw." Kingsley wrote the name down. The next was a fifth year prefect from Gryffindor. _Stupid bravery_, Hermione thought. They passed three Hufflepuff sixth years – Hermione knew they were the best of friends, and almost started crying when she remembered the fourth of their little gang, a DA-member she had sent to Hogsmeade with a group of second years.

"That's Stephen Cornfoot, he's a seventh year Hufflepuff," Hermione said, continuing down the line "and that's his classmate, Wayne Hopkins. I knew them. I never thought they would be this brave."

They continued down the line, Hermione almost breaking down when they reached two second year Gryffindors.

"Why were they even here?" she asked no one in particular. "I told them to leave!"

Next to them was Susan Bones. "She's a seventh year as well, Hufflepuff."

"There are many Hufflepuffs here," Kingsley said.

"Loyal to the bitter end," Hermione said, almost smiling. "They wouldn't have left. He's a Ravenclaw," she said as Kingley revealed the next one. "Michael Corner." _Ginny's ex-boyfriend_, she realised with a pang.

Hermione identified more Gryffindors, Slytherins and Hufflepuffs. But suddenly they came across the only two Slytherins among the dead.

"Tracey Davies," Hermione said, "and Millicent Bulstrode? I thought she'd left... They're both Slytherin seventh years."

"He wasn't supposed to be here either," Hermione said, looking down at a young man. "He'd been pulled out by his parents. Zacharias Smith. Hufflepuff seventh year."

Kevin Enthwistle, a Ravenclaw seventh year, had been pulled out as well. And now he was among the dead.

All in all Hermione had identified ten seventh years, seven sixth years, six fifth years, three fourth years and two second years. Too many.

Not long after, Kingsley asked her if she wanted them to bring her to Hogwarts. But she showed them her portkey and said she'd be fine.

She clutched the ring, whispered the key word and suddenly appeared in Hogsmeade.

The village was eerily silent, but Ginny was waiting for her, and looked extremely relived to see Hermione.

"Are you okay?" the younger girl asked, hugging Hermione before pulling her towards the road to Hogwarts.

"I'm alright," Hermione said. "They asked me to identify the bodies."

"Oh no!" Ginny gasped. "How- how many?"

"Twenty-eight."

Ginny paled and fell silent, staring down at the well-trodden road as they slowly made their way up to Hogwarts.

"Are there many wounded?" Hermione asked.

"A few, I think," Ginny said. "Cecilia had to be carried to Hogwarts. Ron hadn't woken up by the time I left him. A few of the younger ones. Not many."

"He's going to be okay," Hermione said, "he has to."

They had reached the Hogwarts grounds, and were making their way up to the entrance. Dusk had arrived, giving the castle an eerie glow. As they arrived at the castle they went directly to the Great Hall. The tables had been pushed to the side, and students were sitting or lying in their sleeping bags on the floor, whispering and chattering silently. Ernie immediately noticed them arrive and made his way over.

"Are you okay?" he asked Hermione, who nodded.

"How many are missing?"

"We haven't been sure," he said, "a few students who were pulled out over the summer came back. But we think we have a count of who were on the train and everyone but thirty-six are in the Hall now. But of those, six are in the Hospital Wing with injuries."

"Thirty?" Hermione asked. "They had me identify the bodies at the scene, and there were only twenty-eight."

"In that case, we're wondering," Ernie said, lowering his voice, "if the two remaining are – are Death Eaters. Some of the younger Slytherins saw Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle on the train. Their parents pulled them out over the summer, but now they were back – and unless they were among the dead..?"

"No, they were not." Hermione said, eyes flashing angrily. "Do you think they – they attacked Hogwarts students? People they've known and seen for _years_?"

"It might have been their initiation," Ginny said sadly, her eyes now scanning the Hall for Harry.

"We can't know for sure," Hermione said. "Why is everyone sleeping in the Hall?"

"The Headmistress ordered it," Ernie said. "Makes it easier to keep track of everyone."

"How's Harry?"

"Not – not too good. He blames himself," Ernie said. "He's over there." He pointed towards the furthest end of the room, and they could see a dark-haired figure leaning against the raised teachers' dais. Ginny and Hermione thanked Ernie for the information, and headed towards Harry. They were stopped several times on the way by students wishing to thank Hermione for getting them safely out of the train.

Reaching Harry, they found Luna, Neville and Morag in the immediate vicinity. As Hermione paused to ask them how they were, Ginny hurried over to Harry and sat down beside him.

Morag had only managed to get out a few words, saying that she was fine and expressing her concern for Ron, when Harry suddenly got up and stalked away, leaving a very confused-looking Ginny behind.

"What's wrong?" Neville asked, his eyes following Harry as he marched to the other side of the Hall.

"I expect he's feeling guilty," Luna said. "If he hadn't been on the train, it wouldn't have been attacked."

"But that's not true," Hermione said. "It was an act of terrorism; they didn't seem to be after Harry specifically."

"He doesn't see it that way," Ginny said, standing up. "He's _The Chosen One_," she spat, "he should have finished this ages ago."

"Silly Harry," Hermione said. "We're all in this. And we're not going to get our fairytale ending. Harry _will_ kill Voldemort, I'm sure of it, but it can't be done without sacrifice."

"And he'll blame himself, even after it's all over," Ginny said sadly.

"But he can't stop us from fighting," Luna said. "I mean, that's why I came back." Luna hadn't been at Hogwarts since the attack the previous year – her father hadn't allowed it. But she had turned seventeen during Easter, and had left for the Hogwarts Express this morning, not caring what her father would think.

Draco, still portraying the previously home-schooled Leonard Blake, had noticed Hermione's arrival and was hurrying over to them. He had been the only seventh year to remain at Hogwarts. The only seventh year who hadn't been on the train. Hermione was sure he was blaming himself as well. He didn't admit it, but Hermione was sure he cared deeply for the others in their circle and in the DA.

"How's Ron?" he asked, looking from person to person. "I saw him when they brought him in. He looked like death."

"We don't know," Ginny said. "No one's allowed to leave the Hall."

The five of them summoned purple sleeping bags from a pile in the middle of the Hall. Harry stubbornly stayed at the opposite end of the Hall, and they decided not to try to approach him. Instead they snuggled into their sleeping bags and got to sleep.

OoOo

The students were released from the Hall the following morning after breakfast. Classes had been postponed for a couple of days, so the students all returned to the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers.

Hermione and Ernie, however, went to the Hospital Wing.

Hermione immediately went over to Ron's bed. His face still held the same deathly pallor it had the last time she had seen him.

"How is he?" she asked Pomfrey, when the matron passed by.

"Not good, I'm afraid," she said, waving her wand over Ron's still form. "His injuries are by far the worst. I'm afraid he's been hit with an experimental spell of some sort. I was hoping Professor Burroughs would be able to help me, but he's not at the school."

The Duelling Professor had been away rather often, Hermione thought. And why couldn't he be here when one of her best friends needed help?

But the other five students, Pomfrey informed her, were ready to leave the Hospital Wing.

Hermione turned to face them.

"Parvati?"

"Hi," the girl said, smiling.

"You're back?"

"Obviously," she said, "I couldn't stay away any longer. My parents are furious. We've been in India with family for ages, 'just visiting' they say, but I know they're trying to keep me away from trouble. But I just want to do what's _right_."

"I'm glad to see you," Hermione said, "Though I'm afraid you've had a rough start. What happened to you?"

"Had to re-grow some bones, nothing major."

The other students who had been in the hospital wing had also recovered nicely, though Cecilia needed some help walking steadily, and Hermione and Ernie led the way up to the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor Towers.

"I want to move everyone into a single tower," Hermione told Ernie.

"Do you think we'll all fit?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Did you know there are only sixteen of us left? Of the seventh years?"

"It's almost unbelievable," Ernie said. "But Justin is still in St Mungos as far as I know, and Stephen, Zacharias and Wayne were killed yesterday. I would have been the only one left in my dormitory if we hadn't moved to the tower."

"I'm sorry," Hermione said.

"They chose to fight. Even Zacharias. He was only just returning to Hogwarts yesterday."

"We should have been better prepared. We've been practicing at this, so why did it go so wrong?" Hermione asked. This had worried her quite a bit. They had been working intensely in Dumbledore's Army, but with so many killed ... Were they doing a good enough job?

"The Death Eaters were worse than we thought. They were ruthless. They barely used anything but the Unforgivables."

The group parted at the foot of the towers, Hermione leading the way up to the Gryffindor tower and Ernie to Ravenclaw tower.

Why did everything have to happen at once?

They had two Horcruxes that needed killing, and another two to find – Ravenclaw's comb, if it indeed was, as Hermione suspected, a Horcrux, and Nagini, Voldemort's familiar.

The attack on the Hogwarts Express had killed 28 students, and Hermione feared it also had functioned as an initiation for some younger Death Eaters.

And the demon had reappeared. Hermione had, honestly, forgotten all about it. She had figured the Lamia had forgotten all about her as well, seeing as twenty years had passed since their last meeting. What did it want with Hermione anyway? At first it had only been intrigued by the visitor from the future, but now... Hermione was sure the demon wanted her. Dead or alive, it didn't care, but it _wanted_ Hermione.

On top of this Hermione still tried to do her best with her school work. Harry had taken over the practical lessons in the DA, but Hermione was still helping them learn the few healing spells that were necessary in a battle situation. She had aced her Care of Magical Creatures O.W.L., which she had taken before Christmas, and passed the Divination exams. But she was starting to realise that she might not reach her goal. She had wanted to take her Care of Magical Creatures N.E.W.T and Divination O.W.L. at the end of the year, but found it increasingly difficult to focus on something as mundane as _class_, when there was a war going on beyond the school walls. But she supposed she'd manage. The only other classes she were attending were Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, and although they were demanding subjects, she had studied the seventh year courses in her past and was only hoping to up her grades to O's.

She almost wished she wasn't Head Girl. The work-load had been high this year, with all the internal re-organization in the school in addition to regular prefect meetings and the meetings with the Headmistress.

But Hermione was glad she was busy. It left her less time to just sit and think, to remember all the people who had died. She didn't need to remember Lavender, the silly blonde with the huge crush on Ron, lying dead with her family in the ruins of their home. Or boyish little Lillian Moon, who barely spoke for the entirety of their first year, with her large eyes emptily gazing up at the skies. There were three of them left, of the Gryffindor seventh years, and Parvati had only returned yesterday, and Cecilia was behind her, swooning every other minute because of a nasty hex flung at her in a battle she shouldn't have needed to participate in.

Hermione couldn't stand to think about all the people who had died. The families who had been killed in their Christmas-decorated homes just because someone didn't think them worthy of birthing magical children. The twenty-eight students who were lying in a cold dungeon below the castle waiting for their weeping parents to come collect them, only to place them in cold, lonely graves.

It wasn't fair, Hermione though. And Harry would put an end to it, she was certain. He had to. How else could this be justified? They couldn't go through all this, and then _lose_! Hermione wouldn't allow it.

The small group had reached the Gryffindor Tower and the Pink Lady let them in. Morag, Ginny, Luna, Neville and Draco were sitting by the fireplace. Harry was nowhere to be seen.

"How is he?" Ginny asked, as Hermione joined them.

"Not good," Hermione said. "Poppy says he hasn't woken up. She's not even sure what's wrong with him."

"Mum and dad are coming later today, I got a note," the younger girl said.

"There's not much anyone can do," Hermione said. "Poppy said she was going to ask Professor Burroughs, but he's not at the school at the moment."

"Why him?" Neville asked, offering Hermione a chocolate frog.

"She's afraid Ron was hit by a new experimental spell. She's hoping the Duelling Professor might know what it is. She can't really do anything unless she knows what to treat."

Hermione bit into the chocolate frog, effectively ending its squirming. Ginny was staring into the flames, looking lost.

"Where's Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Hiding somewhere, I suppose," Morag said. "He's been avoiding us."

Sighing, Hermione pulled the Marauder's Map from her pocket. She still hadn't returned it to Harry, despite having revealed her secrets. She was scanning the teacher's lounges and living areas, taking some time to find them as she had never really looked at them before, to see if she could find Professor Burroughs, but didn't find him anywhere. She really hoped he would get back soon.

OoOo

By the end of the week a couple of classes were starting up again, but life at Hogwarts struggled to get back to normal. Molly and Arthur Weasley were staying in the Hospital Wing with their still comatose son, Arthur only leaving for a couple of hours each day to tend to work and Order business.

Hermione, Harry and Ginny were visiting in the hospital wing. Ron's mother and sister were fussing over him, chit-chatting, hoping every second that he would wake up and everything would be okay. Hermione and Harry, who had only just recently come out of wherever he was hiding (Hermione supposed the Room of Requirement) were sitting on a bed on the opposite side of the room, watching the Weasleys.

"I've felt like their son for ages," Harry said suddenly, looking at Molly. "And it's my fault he's in here, dying."

"They don't blame you, Harry," Hermione said gently, "no one does."

"I do," he muttered darkly. "I'm the one who has to finish this."

"You're not alone, Harry."

"It feels that way," The Boy Who Lived said silently, his gaze dropping to the floor.

"I don't have a family, like you guys. I don't have a mother to fuss over me in the Hospital Wing, no matter how close I am to the Weasleys. I don't even have Sirius anymore."

"We all love you," Hermione said, grasping his hand with her own. "I know it's not the same, but you're not alone!"

"You know, I used to wish you were my sister," Harry said, "I still do. I mean, Ron and his brothers have always been like brothers to me, but they always had each other. You don't have that. I always thought we could have been good brother and sister to each other." He smiled at her, and she smiled back, feeling as though her heart would break. "I mean, you would pester me about reading more, just like you do now, and I could have taught you to fly or something."

"It would have been nice," Hermione agreed. "I would have loved to have you for a brother, even though you would have been a younger brother," she teased. Harry swatted her arm with his free hand, the other still clutched in hers.

Ginny walked over to them, frowning for a second when she noticed their clasped hands. But she didn't say anything and sat down on the bed beside Harry.

"He's still the same," she said. "No change."

"Maybe when Professor Burroughs comes back," Hermione said, hoping.

"Maybe," Ginny said. "But it's been _days_."

"He'll get through this," Harry said, grasping one of Ginny's hands with his free one. "I'll make sure of it."

Neville and Luna came in to the Hospital Wing and made their way over to the trio on the bed.

"Any change?" Luna asked. Ginny shook her head.

"But Burroughs is back," Neville said, "we just saw him. We thought he might have come from here."

"He's back? Really?" Hermione asked. She had looked for him on the map for days. The three of them got off the bed simultaneously. "I'll go look for him," Hermione said. "No reason for all of us to run around the castle. You guys stay here."

Harry looked unsure, but Ginny, who knew Hermione had the map, pulled on his hand and they both sat back down.

As soon as she was out of the Hospital Wing Hermione pulled out the Map.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good!"

She scanned the map, but couldn't find Professor Burroughs anywhere. Odd. Stepping into a rarely used, narrow corridor, she called for Dobby, hoping the House Elf would hear her. He popped into the corridor in front of her after a minute.

"Missis Granger!" The Elf exclaimed, looking genuinely happy to see her.

"Hello Dobby," Hermione said with a smile, "I was wondering if you could find out where Professor Burroughs is?" The Elf nodded excitedly and popped away. Only a few minutes had passed when he popped back again.

"Professor is in the dungeons," Dobby said, nodding seriously, "in the Potions room!"

Hermione thanked the free elf and promised to get him a new pair of socks the next time she visited Hogsmeade. He smiled even wider at that and popped away again. Hermione looked at the map again, but couldn't find the Professor in the dungeons, even now that she knew exactly where to look.

"Dobby must have gotten it wrong," Hermione muttered to herself, but decided to walk down to the dungeons to check for herself. When she reached Professor Slughorn's classroom, she stopped for the last time to check the map, before whispering _mischief managed!_ and tucking it in her pocket. She rounded a corner and stepped into the classroom, somehow both surprised and not surprised at all to find Professor Burroughs, auburn-haired and bespectacled, leaning over a cauldron.

"Professor," Hermione said, stopping just inside the room. The tall man flinched as though surprised, but nodded in greeting.

"Who are you?" Hermione asked suddenly, all thoughts of asking of help for Ron temporarily fleeing her mind.

The tall man stood frozen by the cauldron, his face illuminated by the flickering fire underneath it. He was gazing at her longingly, a far cry from the usual cold ignorance that had so confused her – usually the star of her classes and the favourite of her professors.

"Prof-"

"Don't!" he said, interrupting her. "I can't, I can't bear it."

Hermione was utterly confused. He looked at her as though he knew her, as though he loved her, but he had never even spoken a word to her.

"I don't understand," Hermione said in a small voice.

He sighed, his gaze dropping to the floor. "I thought-" he stopped. "I thought at least _you _would know me."

_Could it be?_ Hermione wondered, moving closer. When she was by his side, she reached up to remove his glasses. His eyes were a pale blue, but there was no mistaking the emotion in them.

"Severus?"


	24. Chapter 24

Hermione didn't quite know what to think. When she had approached Professor Burroughs she had only wanted to know if he could help Ron recover from the mysterious curse that had him lying comatose in the Hospital Wing. She had never expected the tale she had just heard from the lips of Severus Snape!

According to him, the Headmaster had made sure to put a light forget-for-now charm on the Professors who had known Leandra Sophia Tawnee in the seventies so that they wouldn't recognize her as Hermione Jean Granger when she began her first year at Hogwarts. Severus Snape, though not a Professor during Hermione's second – or was that first? – stay at Hogwarts, had been put under the charm as well. For that Hermione was glad, and Severus as well. He wasn't sure how he would have taken it, when he discovered the annoying know-it-all Gryffindor was his girlfriend from the past. Dumbledore, in all his genius, had let the charms gradually fade away over this past summer and the first few weeks of school.

Severus, disguised as a Duelling Champion named Burroughs, had been recommended to McGonangal by Albus' portrait (which was different from the other portraits in the Headmistress' office only in that the person it depicted wasn't quite dead), and it hadn't taken Severus long to realise that Hermione and Leandra were one and the same. Had he not needed to maintain his cover, he would have broken down and confessed to her immediately.

For in addition to being a Duelling Professor at Hogwarts, Severus still operated as a spy within Voldemort's ranks. This, Hermione though, certainly explained his periods of absence.

He had not removed his disguise during the conversation, something which both disappointed and relieved Hermione. Hearing his voice and tone from someone who looked so foreign to her allowed her to remember the Severus she had loved. She didn't know if she could have bared to hear those words from a Severus twenty year his senior, and the bane of her existence for six years as her Hogwarts Potions Master.

One most definitely good thing did come out of this: Severus was sure he could figure out what was wrong with Ron, and promised to visit the Hospital Wing soon. Severus was a Death Eater after all, and few of the other Death Eaters could keep many secrets from him.

All in all, the encounter left Hermione torn.

She had loved Severus during her time in the past, however short, and he had loved her, he told her as much. They had both been heartbroken by the abrupt end to their relationship. And Severus loved Hermione still, she thought. She could see it in his eyes, hear it in his voice, and feel it in his touch the few times his hand had grazed hers. But she was far from sure whether or not she loved him. And it made her feel like a horrible person.

Hermione had never been good with girls. Her friends had been hard in the making, and they had always been boys. Growing up with boys – her three best friends in kindergarten and primary school had been muggle boys, and then Ron and Harry at Hogwarts – hadn't exactly prepared her for the feelings that would come with puberty.

It wasn't until her fourth year at Hogwarts that she even felt like a girl, and a pretty one at that. And that was something she could thank international quidditch-star Viktor Krum for. If he hadn't sought her out in the library and asked her to the Yule Ball, Hermione was sure it would have taken years for any boy to notice her, and even longer for her to do anything about it.

All in all, Hermione had had a crush on six, kissed three, and, well, been private with only one. Who would have thought that about the bookworm with the bushy hair and big front teeth? But had she ever loved anyone? Hermione wasn't so sure.

OoOo

After the confrontation, it didn't take long for Severus to stop by the hospital wing and check on Ron. Hermione had decided not to join the rest of the group in the Hospital Wing as _Professor Burroughs_ was examining Ron. But she was close, sitting in a corridor just off the main hallway leading to the Hospital Wing. Ginny and Luna came out to join her after a while.

"They figured out what's wrong with him," Luna said as they sat down on either side of Hermione.

As Madam Pomfrey had suspected, Ron had been hit by one of the experimental spells the Death Eaters had been working on. Luckily, Burroughs was able to recognize it characteristics.

"And it's a horrible spell, really," Ginny said. "The Professor said that if the person casting it had been trained properly Ron would have become, I don't know, almost _infected_ with ... Death Eater-ness?"

"Did he manage to remove it?" Hermione asked. "I mean, all of it?"

"Yes," Luna said. "I mean, Ron's still sleeping, but Pomfrey said she couldn't see any spellwork on him."

"That's good."

Harry, Neville and Draco joined the girls, leaving Ron alone with his parents, and they all went to lunch in the Great Hall.

"His technique was brilliant," Draco said, mouth full of chicken sandwich, excitedly trying to describe wand movements with his free hand. "He knew _exactly_ what to do! It was almost like the magic itself told him what was wrong with Ron."

"Well, he _is _a Duelling Master," Harry said, trying to hide an amused twitch to his lips. "It's his job to know these things."

"I wish I get there one day," Draco said, continuing. "To have this intuitive understanding of how magic works, like Dumbledore has. Like you, Harry."

Harry just rolled his eyes. No matter how often Hermione or someone else told him he was good at something magical, Harry just flatly refused to believe it.

"All the professors are like that," Neville said. "Don't you think?"

"Absolutely," Hermione said. "I guess that's why Dumbledore hired them? You need to _understand_ magic to teach it."

"Yeah," Ginny said. "To do magic like we do it, we just sort of have to understand _what _to do. At least in the younger years that's true. I know I'm not always sure what makes a spell work the way it does."

"It would be really interesting to learn more about magical theory," Hermione said.

"I agree," Luna said. "We learn some now, especially in Charms and Transfiguration, but it's not properly organized, just put in direct context to what we're learning that particular lesson."

"All spells have been invented, haven't they?" Neville said, pausing between bites of food to speak. "How cool wouldn't that be?"

Hermione turned her attention to the meal in front of her as her friends excitedly discussed what kinds of spells they would invent. She hoped Ron was going to be all right – he would have loved to be a part of this conversation. This incident with Ron had really made her think about the troubled times they were in. She had felt undone when her classmates and yearmates had been killed or hurt in the previous Death Eater attacks, but almost loosing Ron... How would she be able to continue if any one of her closest friends eventually were killed? And with reality as it was, Hermione was becoming increasingly aware of the terrifying truth – they couldn't all survive this.

She had never known a Harry that didn't risk his life, and now more than ever she was certain he would have to face Voldemort in a battle of life and death. And there was no way she was letting him go alone, knowing full well that all the others shared the same sentiment.

As dinner came to an end, Hermione was pulled away from her thoughts by Ginny and Nevilles discussion, now increasing in volume, about which of them would make the best auror. They had moved on from experimental spellwork, Hermione decided.

"What do you think, Hermione?" Ginny demanded suddenly, as they were making their way from the Great Hall to the common room.

"About what?"

"Ginny and Neville," Harry said with a sigh, "are both positive they would make the best auror."

"I'm sure they both will be great," Hermione said, causing both Ginny and Neville to ignore her completely and march of ahead, still discussing eagerly. "I know I would never."

"I'm sure you would be a great auror," Luna said.

"I probably would," Hermione said. "But I'd never choose to be an auror."

"You wouldn't`?" Harry asked.

"If I'm lucky enough to get out of this alive, and we're lucky enough to win this war we're in, then I couldn't ever do anything like this again."

"I know what you mean," Harry and Luna said simultaneously, making Hermione smile.

"Ron would, though," Hermione said, "and obviously Ginny and Neville. I though you would too, Harry?"

"Yeah, I know," Harry said. "I thought I would too. But... I don't know. What happened to Ron really made me think. As you said, if we all get through this alive I just want to ... live."

"I know exactly what you mean Harry," Luna said. "That's what I want to do too. I want to get through this and then spend years just doing what I love best. I'll go find strange animals all over the world, you'll be an international quidditch star, and Hermione will take over the Ministry of Magic!"

Harry and Luna laughed loudly as Hermione protested against Luna's prophecy.

As they headed into the common room they hear Ginny, had entered with Neville shorty before them, squeal enthusiastically. As they entered the room they found her embracing –

"Ron!"

The three of them joined Neville, circling Ron who had occupied the most comfortable chair in the room.

"Are you feeling better?" Hermione asked as she hugged him.

"Much," Ron said with a smile. "Don't remember much, honestly. I think you guys suffered more than me."

And he seemed honestly all right, sitting comfortably in the chair with his friends all around filling him in on what he had missed.

OoOo

Hermione, Harry, Ron and Ginny were visiting Dumbledore. The old wizard was doing much better, and was beginning to tire of his rooms. But he was the one who urged that they continue to keep his existence hidden.

"But when?" Ron asked, "When do you 'return'?"

"The moment will present itself," Albus said, with a twinkle in his eyes.

"What about the Horcruxes, " Harry asked, impatient. "We have Slytherin's locket and Hufflepuff's cup, but how do we 'kill' them? Morag suggested we use a basilisk fang, like with the diary."

"Would that work?" Ginny asked, interrupting. "Would they still be down there?"

"They are very potent," Albus said, "and strong."

"I'm going down there," Harry announced. "We have to try!"

Ron and Hermione immediately declared that they would go with him.

"I- I can't," Ginny said. "I can't go back down."

Harry grabbed one of her hands with his own.

"I would never ask that of you."

Eager to make headway in this battle against the Horcruxes, the three of them left Ginny with Dumbledore and headed towards the Room of Requirement. They had hidden the Horcruxes there, trusting in Hogwarts' own magic to hide them.

Ron grabbed the locket and Hermione the goblet, and they headed down to the second floor girls bathroom.

Hermione never felt comfortable in Myrtle's bathroom. In their second year Hermione had mistakenly ingested a cat-hair-infused polyjuice potion which had landed her in the Hospital Wing for weeks, and Myrtle kept bringing it up every time Hermione visited the bathroom.

Harry hurried over to the sink with the engraved snake, and hissed a word both Hermione and Ron recognised as 'open' in Parsletongue.

"I think I've been around you for too long," Ron joked. "I'm beginning to learn Parsletongue!"

Harry only grinned in reply before leaping into the hole that had opened, leaving Hermione and Ron to follow.

Hermione had never been in the Chamber of Secrets before, and was intrigued. This was a piece of wizarding history! Ron and Harry kept joking that she'd soon be sending in a revision to the publishers of 'Hogwarts: A History' including the stories and secrets the three of them had collected during their years at the school. Hermione laughed with them, but secretly she was sure they were right. An account of the Chamber _should_ be written. Harry and Ron couldn't be bothered, Ginny would rather not think about it, and Lockhart _couldn't_ think about it. It seemed as though it was up to her.

At the next entrance Ron tried to hiss out the 'open'-command a few times, but failed. He wasn't quite fluent in Parsletongue yet, though Harry swore he was close.

The three of them moved into the last room after Harry had taken pity on Ron and opened the door. Harry strode forward confidently, with Hermione and Ron following hesitantly. They had never been here before. As they walked the room opened up, and the giant snake was revealed. If Hermione hadn't known Harry had killed the snake five years ago, she would have tempted to believe it was still alive.

"Are you sure it's dead?" Ron, who had come to a full stop the second he spotted the snake, asked nervously.

"Yeah," Harry said. "I killed it, didn't I?"

"They're extremely magical," Hermione said, "and even more so the bigger they are. This one is huge."

Although the basilisk might look like it was sleeping from a distance, up close it was most certainly dead. Its scales were loose and some had fallen off, what remained of its eyes had turned grey and the general aroma didn't exactly smell _fresh_.

"How do we do this?" Harry asked. He was standing by the basilisk's head. Hermione couldn't help but imagine how small he must have been at twelve, when he killed it.

"We get the fangs, and then I guess we try poking the Horcruxes with them," Ron said, confidence returned now that the snake actually looked dead.

Hermione walked over to Harry, and together – she supporting the giant skull with magic while he put his hands directly into its terrifying mouth – they managed to get hold of a fang.

It was huge.

Hermione no longer had any problems understanding what Harry meant five years ago when he said he was bitten _through_ the arm.

Ron had put the two Horcruxes on the ground.

They looked oddly peaceful, the locket and the goblet, sitting side by side on the ground. But Hermione could feel the magic in them as she and the boys advanced towards them armed with something that could kill them.

"It feels as if they know," Ron said, shuddering.

"I think they do," Harry said, eyes dark. "Let's do this quick!"

He tightened his grip on the fang, and strode purposefully towards the locket. He kneeled in front of it, arm raised to strike.

And stopped.

Hermione and Ron exchanged worried glances as Harry remained kneeling, arm frozen in the air, staring intently at the locket.

"Something's wrong," Ron said. "I bet it's talking to him, or something."

"Parseltounge," Hermione said.

The two of them moved closer to Harry, one on either side. Hermione knelt down by Harry, and reached up to wrap her hand around his, tightening both their grips around the fang.

"Harry," she said softly. "We have to kill it."

Ron, on Harry's other side, reached around him, his long reach allowing him to place his hand over Hermione's. She rested her head on Harry's shoulder as Ron hugged them both close, and together the two of them quickly forced the fang down and plunged it into the front of the locket, piercing it. A shriek sounded from the broken piece, and the three of them where pushed a few feet back as something like a wind blew from the dying object. And then everything was quiet.

Harry was shivering slightly, leaning into his two best friends.

"Thanks," he said.

Ron helped Harry up, as Hermione wrenched the fang free from the locket.

"I'm doing it this time," Hermione said, looking at Harry's pale face.

She stepped over to the goblet, with Ron on one side and Harry on the other. She kneeled down, clasped the fang tightly in both hands and lifted it, ready to strike.

Staring intently at the goblet, she could barely feel the two others by her side. The golden metal seemed to be whispering to her, glimmering softly although there shouldn't be much light to glimmer in. The badger on its front seemed to be moving, the intricate details swimming in and out if focus. This is a priceless heirloom, a relic from the past. And she was going to destroy it? Hermione knew she was kneeling, and had a weapon raised ready to plunge into the cup in front of her. But she couldn't remember why or, looking at it, seem to figure it out. Who would ever want to destroy something so beautiful, something so valuable?

Suddenly strong hands closed around her own, forceful arms encircled her shoulders and waist. What was happening? She looked at the cup. Someone was trying to _make _her destroy it. Shefelt anger bubbling as this malevolent outside force plunged her armed hands down upon the golden cup. No!

As a strong pulse of air and a shrill scream sounded from the cup, Hermione found herself almost waking up several feet away from it, wrapped in Ron's and Harry's arms.

"What happened?" she asked, feeling puzzled.

"We did it," Ron said, standing up, "we killed them."

Hermione rose, feeling her feet trembling slightly under her.

"Are we sure?"

"I'm pretty sure," Harry said, picking up the two now broken objects. "But we'll bring them back up to Dumbledore and Ginny to be certain. His hands, now clasping the two silent objects, were trembling.

"Here," Ron said, peeling of his sweater, "put them in this." He tied the sweater into a pouch of sorts, allowing Harry to safely place the former Horcruxes inside. Hermione released a shaky breath as the objects disappeared out of sight.

"You killed the diary, Dumbledore killed the ring and now we've killed the goblet and the locket." Ron said confidently. "We're getting there."

Not having Fawkes with them this time to get out of the Chamber, they walked back to the opening up to Myrtles bathroom. Summoning ropes from their wands and with a little struggle, the three of them made it out feeling both mentally and physically exhausted. It felt like it took them an hour to reach Dumbledore's chambers.

"Did you do it?" Ginny asked anxiously as soon as they entered the room.

"I think so," Harry said, giving a weak smile.

Ron emptied his makeshift bag onto a table. Both Dumbledore and Ginny moved closer to investigate. Their approaches seemed very different. Ginny kept most of her body at a respectable distance, only offering the tips of her fingers to touch the two objects. Dumbledore however bent close to the table, inspecting the mangled cup and locket carefully – close but never actually touching. But they both came to the same conclusion.

"Dead, gone, broken," Ginny said rapidly as soon as she had touched both, and stepped away from the table.

"Miss Weasley is correct," Dumbledore said. "There is nothing left in these former Horcruxes." He picked them up, and put them away in a drawer in a desk.


End file.
